Noel Coward Collected Plays: THREE: 3

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Hoare, Philip (1995). Noël Coward, A Biography. London: Sinclair-Stevenson. ISBN 978-1-4081-0675-4. Sorel and Simon Bliss, a brother and sister, exchange artistic and bohemian dialogue. Judith, their mother, displays the absent-minded theatricality of a retired star actress, and David, their father, a novelist, is concentrating on finishing his latest book. Each of the four members of the Bliss family, without consulting the others, has invited a guest for the weekend. Judith announces that she has decided to return to the stage in one of her old hits, Love's Whirlwind. She and Sorel and Simon amuse themselves acting out a melodramatic passage from the play beginning, "Is this a game?" "Yes, and a game that must be played to the finish!" [20] They are interrupted by the ringing of the doorbell. [21] The best-known plays of Coward's middle period, the late 1930s and the 40s, Present Laughter, This Happy Breed and Blithe Spirit are more traditional in construction and less unconventional in content. Coward toured them throughout Britain during the Second World War, and the first and third of them are frequently revived in Britain and the US. [170]

The older members of the family discuss a letter they have received from Queenie in France. They are interrupted by the news that Reg and his wife have been killed in a road accident. Noël Coward / Lynn Fontanne and Alfred Lunt / New York Shakespeare Festival / Barbra Streisand (1970)Evangeline Julia Marshall, eccentric society hostess (1854–1944), married Clement Paston Astley Cooper, grandson of Sir Astley Paston Cooper, on 10 July 1877. She inherited Hambleton Hall from her brother Walter Marshall on his death in 1899, and there she entertained rising talents in the artistic world, including, in addition to Coward, the painter Philip Streatfeild, [4] the conductor Malcolm Sargent, [5] and the writer Charles Scott Moncrieff, who dedicated his translation of Proust's Swann's Way to her. [6] When staying with the Astley Coopers, Coward kept careful notes of what his hostess said and how she said it, and much of the dialogue for Hay Fever (and other early Coward plays) appears to be derived directly from these notes. [7] She said she went to his plays "because it amuses me to hear my remarks put into the mouths of actors". [8] There were several changes of cast during the run; all but two of the roles were played by different performers at one time or another. Only Martin Lewis and Moya Nugent stayed from the first night to the last. Irene Browne played two different characters during the run. After playing the steely Ruth from 1942 to 1944 she appeared for six months in 1945 as the ebullient Madame Arcati. As well as changes in the regular principals, other actors − including Coward − appeared for short spells of two or more weeks to allow the regulars to take a holiday. [16]

This Happy Breed is a play by Noël Coward. It was written in 1939 but, because of the outbreak of World War II, it was not staged until 1942, when it was performed on alternating nights with another Coward play, Present Laughter. The two plays later alternated with Coward's Blithe Spirit. The title, a reference to the English people, is a phrase from John of Gaunt's monologue in Act II, Scene 1 of Shakespeare's Richard II.

Cast & Creatives Highlights

Coward, Noël (1998). Barry Day (ed.). Coward: The Complete Lyrics. London: Methuen. ISBN 978-0-413-73230-9. He soon became more cautious about overdoing the flamboyance, advising Cecil Beaton to tone down his outfits: "It is important not to let the public have a loophole to lampoon you." [159] However, Coward was happy to generate publicity from his lifestyle. [160] In 1969 he told Time magazine, "I acted up like crazy. I did everything that was expected of me. Part of the job." Time concluded, "Coward's greatest single gift has not been writing or composing, not acting or directing, but projecting a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and chic, pose and poise." [1] It may have been his greatest role – all that mask wearing proving excellent practice for going undercover. The fact that no-one took him seriously was his "best qualification for being a spy," says Soden. But Coward was, arguably, too convincing: the press disparaged him for apparently jollying about in America while everyone else suffered, while his international playboy status was frequently seen as a liability by politicians. Both reactions deeply hurt Coward; war service was one area of life where he desperately wanted to be taken seriously. A Broadway revival played in 2009 at the Shubert Theatre. [32] Blakemore directed, with Rupert Everett as Charles, Jayne Atkinson as Ruth, Christine Ebersole as Elvira, Angela Lansbury as Madame Arcati and Simon Jones as Dr Bradman. [33] The New York Times found the revival somewhat uneven, calling the opening performance "bumpy", but praised Lansbury's performance. [n 6] The play was broadcast on radio in 1937 in both the US ( CBS Radio) and Britain ( BBC radio, with Marie Tempest in her original stage role.) [31] In later BBC radio adaptations, Judith has been played by Athene Seyler (1952), Peggy Ashcroft (1971), and Judi Dench (1993). [67]