Look back in pleasure : Noël Coward reconsidered / edited and introduced by Joel Kaplan and Sheila Stowell ; with a foreword by Sheridan Morley.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Kaplan, Joel H.

Stowell, Sheila, 1954-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Coward, Noël, 1899-1973.

Coward, Noël.

Dramatists, English--20th century.

Dramatists, English.

Influences.

Theater--Great Britain.

Theater.

Great Britain.

Physical Description:

xviii, 238 pages : music ; 22 cm

Place of Publication:

London : Methuen, 2000.

Summary:

One hundred years after Noel Coward's birth, Look Back in Pleasure re-evaluates the legacy of a man who was both one of the twentieth century's most prolific and best-loved writers, and one of its greatest icons.

In these thought-provoking essays and interviews, theatre scholars, playwrights, actors and directors consider Coward's contribution to modern British theatre, the importance of gender, class and nation in the shaping of his work, and the unique challenges his plays present the actors and audiences of today.

Contents:

Part 1 Noel Coward Reconsidered

1. David Edgar: Noel Coward and the Transformation of British Comedy 3

2. Philip Hoare: 'It's All a Question of Masks' 16

3. Alan Sinfield: Coward and Effeminacy 33

4. Dan Rebellato: Noel Coward's Bad Manners 44

5. Russell Jackson: The Excitement of Being English 62

6. Peter Holland: A Class Act 80

7. Frances Gray: Moving with Coward 91

8. Jean Chothia: Playing with the Audience 103

9. John Stokes: Le printemps du theatre

Coward's France 115

10. Peter Raby: A Weekend in the Country

Coward, Wilde and Saki 131

11. Dominic Vlasto: The Potency of Cheap Music 144

12. Michael Coveney: Cowardice, Decadence and the Contemporary Theatre 163

Part 2 Practitioners on Coward

1. Round Table

Philip Franks, Corin Redgrave, Christopher Newton, Malcolm Sinclair, Sue Wilson 183

2. Interviews

Judy Campbell (with Maggie Gale) 194

Maria Aitken (with Joel Kaplan) 200

Philip Prowse (with Joel Kaplan and Sheila Stowell) 205

Juliet Stevenson (with Russell Jackson) 210

3. The Coward Centenary on Stage 217.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0413755002

OCLC:

44933184