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Tonight at 8.30: Hands Across the Sea; Still Life; Fumed Oak; Ways and Means; The Astonished Heart; Red Peppers (Modern Plays)

Tonight at 8.30: Hands Across the Sea; Still Life; Fumed Oak; Ways and Means; The Astonished Heart; Red Peppers (Modern Plays)

by NoelCoward (Author)

  • Used

    Paperback 2009

    $23.59
Synopsis

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. 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. All ten plays are collected together into this volume that features both Coward's own preface and an introduction by Barry Day, editor of The Letters of Noel Coward. 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 Noel, wherever I go ...all I hear is Please revive Tonight at 8.30! ' 'Tonight at 8.30 surprises as much as it delights as, in some of the plays, Coward takes us to a world far removed from that of the wealth and glamour of the debonair London socialites who dominated much of his earlier work. But The Master's polish and sparkle are never far away as music and song intertwine with the wit and insight of one of our greatest ever playwrights.' Chichester Festival Theatre, 2006.

$23.59

Quantity

1 in stock

More Information

Format: Paperback
 Pages: 304
 Publisher: Methuen Drama
Published: 25 Feb 2009
ISBN 10: 1408113457
ISBN 13: 9781408113455
Book Overview: The first time that Coward's series of one-act plays has been available in a single volume. They will be produced at the Shaw Festival in Ontario, Canada, from May to October 2009. Coward's popularity remains undiminished. The publication of his Letters was a major literary event in 2008 and a huge publishing success. His work continues to be revived on the professional stage and remains a staple of amateur performance groups.

Media Reviews
'playlets that powerfully illuminate the profound depths and witty shallows of Noel Coward's extraordinary talent' Georgina Brown, Mail on Sunday, 2006 'Everywhere emotional confusion breaks through some very English surfaces. Everywhere people are trying to keep the lid on unruly feelings, using everything from stiff upper lips or consideration for others' feelings to threats, moans and bully-boy tactics, and everywhere those feelings end up boiling over.' Benedict Nightingale, The Times, 2006 'they continually prove that Coward was blessed with much more than a talent to amuse.' Charles Spencer, Daily Telegraph, 2006
Author Bio
Noel Coward made his name as a playwright with The Vortex (1924), in which he also appeared. His numerous other successful plays included Hay Fever, Private Lives, Design for Living, and Blithe Spirit. During the war he wrote screenplays such as Brief Encounter (1944) and This Happy Breed (1942). His volumes of verse, autobiography and letters have all been published to acclaim by Methuen Drama. Coward was knighted in 1970 and died three years later in Jamaica.