Bøker av Noel Coward

Terribly Intimate Portraits, is a classical and a rare book, that has been considered important throughout the human history, and so that this work is never forgotten we at Alpha Editions have made efforts in its preservation by republishing this book in a modern format for present and future generations. This whole book has been reformatted, retyped and redesigned. These books are not made of scanned copies of their original work, and hence their text is clear and readable. This remarkable volume falls within the genres of Language and Literatures English literature

This bittersweet comedy is the story of a cosmopolitan author caught in his declining years between two women, one being his wife of convenience fortwenty years, the other, one of his former loves. There is a bit of the detective story in this, too, for the former flame produces some old love letters whichshe is about to turn over to a biographer. He is dead set against it, for it would compromise his impeccable reputation until she produces still another set of love letters, even more damaging, written to a male friend of his early youth.It remains for the wife of convenience to say that she has known about this all along, and to send the old flame off with an entirely different opinion.The blackmail fails, but the rue remains. Mr. Coward, Lilli Palmer and Irene Worth played in the London production. Produced in New York under thetitle Noël Coward In Two Keys.

"This 1925 comedy of manners that's funny yet also unorthodox and unsettling... a celebration of abnormality and at the same time a disquieting study of both the pleasures and the pains of not being able to restrain oneself." - Evening StandardWhen four guests, all invited by different members of the Bliss family, arrive for a weekend at their country house near Maidenhead, they're expecting a idyllic retreat. But this peaceful promise is quickly trounced when the self-absorbed eccentricities of the Blisses are trained on the guests, who leave the country mansion humiliated and embarrassed.First produced in 1925, Hay Fever is a technical masterpiece, seamlessly combining high farce with a comedy of manners, and delivering Coward his first major commercial success.This new edition is published in Methuen Drama's iconic Modern Classics series to coincide with the 125th anniversary of Coward's birth and features a new introduction by Michael Billington.

"Its fusion of passion and mischief remains striking and there is something undeniably heady about its celebration of a kind of sexual liberation that looks a lot like flippancy" - Evening StandardFrom 1930s bohemian Paris to the dizzying heights of Manhattan society, a tempestuous love triangle unravels between a vivacious interior designer, Gilda, playwright Leo and artist Otto - three people unashamedly and passionately in love with each other. But can such a lavish love affair survive the real world?Exploring themes of bisexuality, celebrity, success and self-obsession, Design for Living is a stylish and scandalous comedy, that is often revered as Coward's most controversial and risqué work.This new edition is published in Methuen Drama's iconic Modern Classics series to coincide with the 50th anniversary of Coward's death and features a new introduction by Oliver Soden.

"Although Noèel Coward's work as playwright, songwriter and actor of stage and screen has long been celebrated, his contributions to the British musical have largely been forgotten. This lack of attention is due in part because of the idiosyncratic nature of the works themselves that imitates the creative nature of Coward himself. This new anthology rectifies this omission from the musical theatre landscape and together demonstrates his adaptability, the extent of his creativity, and the myriad of styles and genres that constituted British musicals from the 1920s-1970s. Through flop shows at Drury Lane with Mary Martin through to his Broadway hits with Elaine Stritch, this anthology spans a variety of styles, from revue to musical comedy to operetta. The works in this volume will provide a contemporary critical introduction to the wide range of Coward's musical works, illustrating the breadth and depth of his work, and highlighting the diverse identities of the collaborators and performers with whom he worked. Though the style of these works varies, they are linked together by his creative thread, and his ability to craft barbed and witty observations of his social world. This volume is a timely portrait of Coward's oeuvre and its lasting influence on the wider world of British theatre. This Year of Grace (1928), also known as Cochran's 1928 Revue Bitter Sweet (1929) Words and Music (1932) Pacific 1860 (1946) Ace of Clubs (1949) Sail Away (1961) The Girl Who Came to Supper (1963)"--

This book "" I'll Leave It To You; A Light Comedy In Three Acts "", has been considered important throughout the human history, and so that this work is never forgotten we have made efforts in its preservation by republishing this book in a modern format for present and future generations. This whole book has been reformatted, retyped and designed. These books are not made of scanned copies and hence the text is clear and readable.

Noël Coward's Brief Encounter is remembered as one of the most haunting love stories on screen ever. Drawing on the characteristic wit and musicality of Kneehigh, Emma Rice, former Joint Artistic Director of the Company, has adapted Coward's classic 1945 screenplay, and the one-act play Still Life on which it was based, into a richly theatrical, imaginative and vibrant piece of theatre.From an original idea by David Pugh & Dafydd Rogers, Kneehigh's production received its world premiere in 2008. This edition is published to coincide with the production's run live at the Empire Cinema in London's West End for 2018, co-produced by Steve and Jenny Wiener and The Old Vic.With an updated foreword by Emma Rice.'Surely the most enchanting work of stagecraft ever inspired by a movie.' Ben Brantley, The New York Times'Moving, funny, gripping and even at its most inventive, true to the original and its all-English heart' The Times

Coward Plays: 9 offers up a fascinating selection of Noël Coward's lesser-known works. Salute to the Brave/Time Remembered (1940) follows Leila Heseldyne after she has fled to America, leaving a war-torn Britain and her husband behind; Long Island Sound(1947) sees a writer coerced into a riotous flock of high flying society people with turbulent results; and Volcano (1957) depicts a volcanic eruption as it punctuates the dubious conduct of six individuals on a fictional South Sea island. This volume also includes Design for Rehearsing (1933) was Coward's private satire on the way he , Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne worked on Design for Living. Age Cannot Wither (1967), Coward's last and unfinished play completes the collection as it portrays the boozy reunion of three women in their sixties, who meet without fail every year to reminisce. Together, these works offer a new and intriguing insight into Coward the playwright and his oeuvre that extends well beyond his most well-known works such as Private Lives, Blithe Spirit and Hay Fever. The volume is introduced by Coward expert and scholar Barry Day.

A rich uncle announces he has a terminal illness and plans to leave his estate to one of his sister''s children but under one condition. The family scrambles to accommodate his needs and meet the requirements of the inheritance. Mrs. Dermott is a widow and mother of five adult children--Oliver, Evangeline, Sylvia, Bobbie and Joyce. They live together in a large country house that they can no longer afford. The children are stagnant with no careers or future aspirations. Desperate, Mrs. Dermott turns to her brother Daniel for help. Once he arrives, Uncle Daniel declares he''s gravely ill and plans to leave his fortune to one of his sister''s children. He will bequeath a lucrative inheritance to the niece or nephew who is able to make the most of their life. In an effort to gain his favor, each child embarks on a different career path becoming successful in their own right. This leads to a startling revelation about Uncle Daniel, his wealth and mysterious illness.I''ll Leave It to You is a three-act play that''s both clever and entertaining. It''s one of Noël Coward''s earliest and most memorable works. It was written at age 19 and produced the following year in Manchester and London''s West End. With an eye-catching new cover, and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of I''ll Leave It to You is both modern and readable.

Although Noël Coward's work as playwright, songwriter and actor of stage and screen has long been celebrated, his contributions to the British musical have largely been forgotten. This new anthology of playscripts rectifies this omission from the musical theatre landscape, providing students and scholars with an introduction to the little-known musical theatre works of Noël Coward from the 1920-1960s, with notes on context for today's audiences.

This Happy Breed covers twenty years in the life of the Frank and Ethel Bibbons and their children, from the end of World War I to the beginning of World War II. On one level the story is the chronicle of a middle class family. They haven''t done well in the years between the wars, but in the face of another conflict, family unity spans the chasm between the generations. At another level, this is the story of England, torn at times by the conflicts of its own progress, but quietly firm in its historical moments of crisis.

Written in 1941 this book remians the longest-running comedy in the history of the British theatre for three decades.

Noel Coward's glorious wit and dramatic precision combine to form his 1930s masterpiece about modern romance. Private Lives continues to be one of his most performed and read works.

Comedy / 4m, 14f / Int. Coward's tribute to theatre is set in a retirement home for actresses, all former stars. Jealousies abound, especially between Lotta and another who was also married to her former husband. A tragedy brings them to their senses and a new solarium brings out everyone's good nature. Lotta chooses to stay with her old friends rather than go live with her son. "Should rejoice those of us who still have hearts." London News Chronicle.

Everything that wealthy London society had to offer a properly brought-up girl lay at the feet of little Sarah Millick in 1875; but she fell so desperately in love with her handsome young singing master that she threw it all away in order to be with him.|12 women, 2 men

Left a widow with five grown up children, Mrs. Dermot turns to brother Dan for help. Uncle Dan arrives to find an idle family ready to live on his money. He announces that he is doomed to die in three years and that he will leave his money to the member of the family who has made good by then. Each sets to with such determination that Oliver becomes a successful inventor, Evangeline a novelist, Bobbie a composer and Sylvia a film star; even Joyce, finishing her school career, distinguishes herself.-6 women, 4 men

One of the "Tonight At 8:30" series, produced in London and New York. In the middle class drawing room of amiable and hard working Henry Gow passes most of the family life surrounding his harridan wife Doris, his brat daughter Elise, and his complaining mother in law Mrs. Rockett.3 women, 1 man

Written as a vehicle for Coward's own acting talents alongside his frequent stage partner Gertrude Lawrence, Tonight at 8:30 is Coward's ambitious series of ten one-act plays which saw him breathe new life into the one-act form. From vaudeville to satire, from farce to intricate comedy of manners, from melodrama to romance, these plays span the full, glorious range of Coward's writing. Peep through your fingers at the chaotic Red Peppers music-hall show, witness a bankrupt couple use all Ways and Means to scheme their way out of debt, and break your heart along with Laura in the famous Still Life, the original version of the film Brief Encounter. First performed in London in 1936, the plays perfectly showcase Coward's talents as a playwright, providing a sparkling, fast-paced and remarkably varied selection of theatrical gems. Coward wrote of the first series of three plays with characteristic delight: 'They are all brilliantly written, exquisitely directed, and I am bewitching in all of them.' Gertrude Lawrence wrote to Coward in 1947, 'Dearest Noël, wherever I go . . . all I hear is "please revive Tonight at 8.30!"'All ten plays are collected together into this volume that features both Coward's own preface and an introduction by Barry Day, Coward expert and editor of The Letters of Noël Coward.This new edition of Tonight at 8.30 is published to coincide with English Touring Theatre and the Nuffield Southampton's revival for the first time in the UK since Coward starred in them in 1936.

Elyot Chase and Amanda Prynne, divorced from one another five years previously, arrive coincidentally at the same French hotel. They are both honeymooning with their respective new spouses, but find that the old bond between them cannot be swept aside.

The second part of the autobiography of one of the most astonishing characters in British theatrical history.

The Seventh Coward volume, including four pieces from the Tonight at 8.30 sequence.

Published to tie-in with the world premiere of Noel Coward's forgotten play in 2001, this version of Star Quality is adapted from Coward's unpublished play and his short story of the same name. The play takes us behind the scenes of a West End production.

The sixth volume in the Coward Collection, including Semi-Monde.