Books by Noel Coward

In the 1920s and 1930s, Noel Coward mastered and defined the art of the revue sketch, short and often topical or satirical stage pieces. This volume collects Coward's best and most witty pieces.

Written in 1926 and originally entitled Ritz Bar, Semi-Monde was considered too daring for its time. A visually daring comedy that provides a metaphor for Coward's own sexuality.

At the centre of his own universe sits matinee idol Garry Essendine: suave, hedonistic and too old, says his wife, to be having numerous affairs. His line in harmless, infatuated debutantes is largely tolerated, but playing closer to home is not.

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.

This anthology contains three of Coward's early plays: "I'll Leave it to You"; "The Young Idea"; and "This Was a Man". The first two of the plays - the first of Coward's to ever be produced - were enthusiastically acclaimed on their release. The third was banned for "facetious adultery".