Coward the PlaywrightIn five dexterously argued chapters, John Lahr investigates all the major plays and many of Noël Coward's lesser-known pieces. Hay Fever, Private Lives, and Design for Living, for instance, make a fascinating group of "Comedies of Bad Manners." Blithe Spirit and Relative Values raise the "Ghost in the Fun Machine." And Lahr explores the "politics of charm" oozing through The Vortex, Easy Virtue, and Present Laughter. Further chapters consider the patriotic plays like Cavalcade and This Happy Breed and examples of Coward's later work, such as Waiting in the Wings and A Song at Twilight. In all Coward's stage work, Lahr detects a coherent philosophy in which charm is both the subject of Coward's comedies and the trap that makes his very public life a perpetual performance. |
Contents
List of Illustrations | 8 |
The Politics of Charm | 10 |
The Vortex | 18 |
Easy Virtue | 26 |
Present Laughter | 32 |
Comedies of Bad Manners | 38 |
Savonarola in Evening Dress? | 92 |
Ghosts in the Fun Machine | 114 |
Parting Shots | 137 |
Notes | 163 |
Bibliography | 175 |
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A. J. P. Taylor Act Three actresses audience behaviour Bliss Blithe Spirit Carlotta Cavalcade Cecil Beaton characters Charles charm comedy comic Coward plays Coward wrote critics curtain falls darling dear Design for Living dialogue dramatizes Elvira Elyot and Amanda enchantment English Ernest Essendine finale flippancy Florence frivolity Gerda ghosts Gibbons Gilda guests Happy Breed Hay Fever Heinemann homosexual Hugo Ibid JACKIE Judith Kenneth Tynan Larita Latymer laugh Leo and Otto London Lotta Madame Arcati Maugham Morley eds mother Moxie Myra never Nicky Noël Coward passion Piggie Play Parade Vol playwright political Present Indicative Present Laughter Private Lives quoted in Lesley Ruth says scene sense Sheridan Morley Sholto Simon social songs Sorel stage directions stage picture star success Sybil T. E. Lawrence Talent to Amuse talk tells theatre theatrical things trying Tynan Victor Vortex Wadhursts Whittaker Wings words writes