This is the first book-length work to draw extensively on unpublished
archive material to document the composition and reception of some of
Noël Coward's most significant plays. It examines his working practices
as a playwright, from manuscript to performance. This study argues that,
while he did not embrace any of the more radical theatrical 'isms' of
his time, Coward experimented with both form and content. He adapted the
familiar 'well-made' formulas, while also emphasizing theatrical
self-consciousness and an exploration of radical social and sexual
relationships.
After an overview of Coward's career and the reception of his plays, the
work discusses selected texts from successive phases of Coward's career,
including some unproduced or uncompleted work and perennially popular
plays such as The Vortex, Hay Fever, Private Lives, Design for
Living, Blithe Spirit and Present Laughter. This study also explores
how, in the aftermaths of two world wars, as major changes in social and
political circumstances suggested new approaches to dramaturgy, Coward's
post-1945 work failed to achieve the same success he had enjoyed in
earlier periods. The final chapter examines Coward's approach to his
craft in response to the new theatrical and cultural environment, and
the new freedom in the treatment of homosexuality represented by Suite
in Three Keys and his final, uncompleted play, Age Cannot Wither.
