{"product_id":"coward-plays-volume-one","title":"Coward Plays: Volume One","description":"\u003cp\u003eby Noel Coward\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis first volume in the Coward Collection contains four plays written within a two year period when Coward and the century were still in their 20s. The volume is introduced by Sheridan Morley, Coward's first biographer.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eHay Fever\u003c\/strong\u003e, a comedy of bad manners, concerns a weekend with friends of the Bliss family, who have all been invited independently for a weekend at their country house near Maidenhead.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Vortex\u003c\/strong\u003e was a controversial drama in its time, introducing drug-addiction onto the stage at a time when alcoholism was barely mentioned.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFallen Angels\u003c\/strong\u003e, which is written for two star actresses was described as 'degenerate', 'vile', 'obscene', 'shocking' - the second half of the play is entirely taken up with an alcoholic duologue between the two women.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eEasy Virtue\u003c\/strong\u003e is an elegant, laconic tribute to a lost world of drawing-room dramas, no other writer went more directly to the jugular of that moralistic, tight-lipped but fundamentally hypocritical 20s society. \"He is simply a phenomenon, and one that is unlikely to occur ever again in theatre history\" Terence Rattigan\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"National Theatre Shop","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":31703313973320,"sku":"9780413460608","price":25.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0257\/9562\/5032\/files\/9780413460608.jpg?v=1721044226","url":"https:\/\/shop.nationaltheatre.org.uk\/products\/coward-plays-volume-one","provider":"National Theatre Shop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}