{"product_id":"coward-plays-4-blithe-spirit-present-laughter-this-happy-breed-tonight-at-830-ii-9780413461209","title":"Coward Plays: 4: Blithe Spirit; Present Laughter; This Happy Breed; Tonight at 8.30 (II)","description":"\u003cp\u003eVolume Four of Noël Coward's plays contains a selection of Coward's\u003cbr\u003eplays from the thirties and forties which includes \u003ci\u003eBlithe Spirit\u003c\/i\u003e, a\u003cbr\u003ecomedy that centres around the spirit medium Madame Arcati. The play\u003cbr\u003ethat mocks sudden death was produced at precisely the moment when bombs\u003cbr\u003ewere bringing it to Britain \"I shall ever be grateful, for the almost\u003cbr\u003epsychic gift that enabled me to write \u003ci\u003eBlithe Spirit\u003c\/i\u003e in five days during\u003cbr\u003eone of the darkest years of the war.\" The play was for years the\u003cbr\u003elongest-running comedy in the history of British theatre. \u003ci\u003ePresent\u003cbr\u003eLaughter\u003c\/i\u003e follows the life of Garry Essendine, a world-weary, \u003cbr\u003emiddle-aged projection of the dilettante, debonair persona -\u003cbr\u003eself-obsessed and dressing-gowned who struts through the play like an\u003cbr\u003eeducated peacock. It is a comedy about the 'theatricals' that Noël best\u003cbr\u003eknew and loved, and was originally a star vehicle for himself. It is\u003cbr\u003ethe closest to an autobiographical play that Coward ever wrote. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eThis\u003cbr\u003eHappy Breed\u003c\/i\u003e is a saga of a lower middle-class family; and three shorter\u003cbr\u003epieces from\u003ci\u003eTonight at 8.30 \u003c\/i\u003e- is a farce set in the South of France, \u003cbr\u003eand serves as an oblique tribute to Frederick Lonsdale; \u003ci\u003eThe Astonished\u003cbr\u003eHeart\u003c\/i\u003e is about the decay of a psychiatrist's mind through personal\u003cbr\u003esexual obsession. \u003ci\u003eRed Peppers\u003c\/i\u003e, which closes the volume, was a cynical\u003cbr\u003etribute to the lost music halls of the First World War.\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":51997929537810,"sku":"9780413461209","price":28.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_a97a94b4-3037-43e3-bf9e-a2d9d153ed49.jpg?v=1770136738","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/coward-plays-4-blithe-spirit-present-laughter-this-happy-breed-tonight-at-830-ii-9780413461209","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}