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Selected Bibliography

Charles Castle, Noël, W.H. Allen, 1972

Stephen Cole, Noël Coward: A Bio-Bibliography, Greenwood, 1994

Noël Coward, Collected Sketches and Lyrics, Hutchinson & Co. Ltd, 1931

Noël Coward, Play Parade, William Heinemann Ltd, 1934

Noël Coward, Present Indicative, William Heinemann Ltd., 1937

Barry Day, Coward on Film: The cinema of Noël Coward, Scarecrow Press, 2005

Barry Day (ed.), The Letters of Noël Coward, Methuen, 2007

Barry Day (ed.), Noël Coward on (and in) Theatre, Alfred A. Knopf, 2021

Noël Coward, Noël Coward: Autobiography, a collected edition consisting of Present IndicativeFuture Indefinite and the uncompleted Past Conditional, with a introduction by Sheridan Morley, Methuen, 1986

Philip Hoare, Noël Coward: A Biography, University of Chicago Press, 1998

Russell Jackson, Noël Coward: The playwright’s craft in a changing theatre, Methuen Drama, 2022

John Lahr, Coward the Playwright, Methuen, 1982

Cole Lesley, The Life of Noël Coward, Jonathan Cape, 1976 (Published in the USA as Remembered Laughter: The Life of Noël Coward, Random House, 1976)

Cole Lesley, Graham Payne & Sheridan Morley, Noël Coward and His Friends, Weidenfeld & Nicolson Ltd., 1979

Raymond Mander & Joe Mitchenson, Theatrical Companion to Coward: A pictorial record of the theatrical works of Noël Coward, with an appreciation of Coward’s work in the theatre by Terence Rattigan; updated by Barry Day and Sheridan Morley, second edition, Oberon Books, 2000

Sheridan Morley, A Talent to Amuse: A biography of Noël Coward, 1969

John Parker (ed.), Who’s Who in the Theatre: A biographical record of the contemporary stage, twelfth edition, Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons Ltd, 1957

Elizabeth Sharland, The British on Broadway, Barbican Press, 1999

Elizabeth Sharland, A Theatrical Feast: Sugar and spice in London’s theatreland, Barbican Press, 2001

Oliver Soden, Masquerade: Noël Coward, Orion, 2023

J.C. Trewin, Raymond Mander & Joe Mitchenson, The Turbulent Thirties: A further decade of the theatre, Macdonald, 1960

 

Productions

  • West End

    The second act ‘curtain’ of Private Lives, 1930. From Theatre World, December 1930, p.180. The first production of Private Lives was presented under the management of Charles B. Cochran. It opened out of town at the King’s Theatre, Edinburgh on 18 August 1930. A five-week tour followed that saw...
  • Broadway

    Gertrude Lawrence and Noël Coward as Amanda and Elyot, 1931. Photo by Vandamm. New York Public Library, New York. Private Lives opened at the Times Square Theatre on 27 January 1931. The line-up was the same, apart from Adrianne Allen who had been replaced by Olivier’s wife Jill Esmond, and...
  • Australia

    Prior to the first stage production of Private Lives in Australia, the public had the opportunity to both see and hear the play, firstly through the release of the MGM film starring Norma Shearer and Robert Montgomery, and secondly through a radio broadcast in early 1933 featuring Madge Elliott...
  • Revivals - West End

    Kay Hammond and John Clements as Amanda and Elyot. Photo by Alexander Bender. From Theatre World, December 1944, p.24. Revival 1 Private Lives received its first London revival in November 1944 when it was staged at the Apollo Theatre under the direction of John Clements, with Clements and his...
  • Revivals - Broadway

    Donald Cook and Tallulah Bankhead in Private Lives, 1948. Photo by Vandamm. New York Public Library, New York. Revival 1 Presented by John C. Wilson, directed by Martin Manulis, and with scenic design by Charles Elson, the first Broadway revival of Noël Coward’s Private Lives took place seventeen years...
  • Revivals - Australia

    Hal Thompson, Jane Conolly, Marie Ney and Richard Parry in Private Lives, 1940. National Library of Australia, Canberra. It is an interesting phenomenon that in Australia many plays and musicals seem to enjoy more revivals than they do in their native land. We saw this with Kissing Time. In...

Additional Info

  • Filmography & Discography

    Filmography 1931 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer motion picture (Release date: 12 December 1931) Screenplay by Hans Kräly, Richard Schayer and Claudine West; Produced by Irving Thalberg; Directed by Sidney Franklin: Cinematography by Ray Binger; Cast: Norma Shearer (Amanda Prynne), Robert Montgomery (Elyot...
  • Further Resources

    Selected Bibliography Charles Castle, Noël, W.H. Allen, 1972 Stephen Cole, Noël Coward: A Bio-Bibliography, Greenwood, 1994 Noël Coward, Collected Sketches and Lyrics, Hutchinson & Co. Ltd, 1931 Noël Coward, Play Parade, William Heinemann Ltd, 1934 Noël Coward, Present Indicative, William...