{"product_id":"coward-plays-1-hay-fever-the-vortex-fallen-angels-easy-virtue-9780413460608","title":"Coward Plays: 1: Hay Fever; The Vortex; Fallen Angels; Easy Virtue","description":"\u003cp\u003eThis first volume in the Coward Collection contains four plays written within a two year period when Coward\u003cbr\u003eand the century were still in their 20s. The volume is introduced by Sheridan Morley, \u003cbr\u003eCoward's first biographer. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eHay Fever\u003c\/i\u003e, a comedy of bad\u003cbr\u003emanners, concerns a weekend with friends of the Bliss family, who have\u003cbr\u003eall been invited independently for a weekend at their country house\u003cbr\u003enear Maidenhead. \u003ci\u003e The Vortex\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003ewas a controversial drama in its time, introducing drug-addiction onto\u003cbr\u003ethe stage at a time when alcoholism was barely mentioned. \u003ci\u003eFallen Angels\u003c\/i\u003e, which is written for two star actresses\u003cbr\u003ewas described as 'degenerate', 'vile', 'obscene', 'shocking' - the\u003cbr\u003esecond half of the play is entirely taken up with an alcoholic duologue\u003cbr\u003ebetween the two women. \u003ci\u003eEasy Virtue\u003c\/i\u003e is an elegant, laconic tribute to a\u003cbr\u003elost world of drawing-room dramas, no other writer went more directly\u003cbr\u003eto the jugular of that moralistic, tight-lipped but fundamentally\u003cbr\u003ehypocritical 20s society. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"He is simply a phenomenon, and one that is unlikely to occur ever\u003cbr\u003eagain in theatre history\" Terence Rattigan\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eCoward, Noël:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - Noël Coward was born in 1899 in Teddington, Middlesex. He made his name as a playwright with \u003ci\u003eThe Vortex\u003c\/i\u003e (1924), in which he also appeared. His numerous other successful plays included \u003ci\u003eFallen Angels\u003c\/i\u003e (1925), \u003ci\u003eHay Fever\u003c\/i\u003e (1925), \u003ci\u003ePrivate Lives\u003c\/i\u003e (1933), \u003ci\u003eDesign for Living\u003c\/i\u003e (1933) and \u003ci\u003eBlithe Spirit\u003c\/i\u003e (1941). During the war he wrote screenplays such as \u003ci\u003eBrief Encounter\u003c\/i\u003e (1944) and \u003ci\u003eIn Which We Serve\u003c\/i\u003e (1942). In the fifties he began a new career as a cabaret entertainer. He published volumes of verse and a novel (\u003ci\u003ePomp and Circumstance\u003c\/i\u003e, 1960), two volumes of autobiography and four volumes of short stories: \u003ci\u003eTo Step Aside\u003c\/i\u003e (1939), \u003ci\u003eStar Quality\u003c\/i\u003e (1951), \u003ci\u003ePretty Polly Barlow\u003c\/i\u003e (1964) and \u003ci\u003eBon Voyage\u003c\/i\u003e (1967). He was knighted in 1970 and died three years later in Jamaica.","brand":"Methuen Drama","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50324066074898,"sku":"9780413460608","price":31.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_05baf467-47da-4b1c-837e-ec6cd384b607.jpg?v=1727665875","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/coward-plays-1-hay-fever-the-vortex-fallen-angels-easy-virtue-9780413460608","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}