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Noel Coward combines a fresh appraisal of major plays by one of the twentieth century's most popular dramatists, with an account of critical and theatrical responses to his life and work.

For almost the entirety of the twentieth century, Noel Coward was one of the UK's most popular and celebrated playwrights. Refracting, rather than directly reflecting the social and personal issues of his time, his plays reveal tensions and contradictions in the theatre world that surrounded them. As well as critical responses to his work and the key themes that it foregrounds, seminal productions of The Vortex, Private Lives, Design for Living, Hay Fever, Blithe Spirit and more are examined to further elaborate on the radicalism of his approach to personal and social relationships, and the ways in which directors and actors have sought to achieve a sense of the disquiet felt by critics and audiences when they were first produced. This book explores the question of what Coward's work can speak to for today's modern audiences, assessing his standing in terms of how conditions have changed in the theatre and society more broadly since they were written.

Part of the Routledge Modern and Contemporary Dramatists series, Noel Coward provides undergraduate students on Theatre Studies degrees and Modern Drama courses an essential and accessible guide to the playwright's work and illustrates the influence of his drama on what theatre can tell us about our society.