Noel Coward (1899-1973) and the 1920s
by Frank McGilly
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Noel Coward was one of the most successful playwrights, actors, directors, and songwriters (words and music) of the 20th century.
Born in 1899 just before Christmas (hence the name 'Noel'), he was performing in public at the age of seven. He made his debut in London's West End at twelve. At eighteen, he appeared with Lillian Gish, no less, in a movie directed by the great D.W. Griffith. His precocious success elevated him above his humble origins and earned him entry into the world of the upper classes, sponsored by a wealthy patroness. At a mere twentyone, he had his play I Leave It to You produced in the West End, with himself in a leading role. He
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was on his way. An American visit introduced him to the pace of performance of plays on Broadway, much faster than the then standard British practice; thereafter, speed of delivery became a hallmark of his productions.
The 1920s were a decade with a clear identity. World War 1 had left the Western world with deep distrust of what had been the ruling class, and equally deep disillusion with old social standards and conventions. At the same time a large segment of society set out on a determined pursuit of gaiety (buoyed on a rising tide of economic prosperity). Noel Coward hit several of the era's nails on the head with his 1924 play, The Vortex, accurately described as 'a searing look at sexual vanity and drug abuse among the upper classes'. Considered far too daring for London's West End, The Vortex opened at a suburban London theatre. Its success was such that it squeezed by the censorship of the Lord Chamberlain (plays were seriously censored in Britain until 1968) and ran triumphantly in the West End. Coward, playing the cocaine-snorting son of a promiscuous socialite mother, instantly became a slightly scandalous celebrity, and remained so for the rest of his life.
Throughout the 1920s, plays followed apace - notably including Hay Fever, in 1925 - plus songs, revues, and a successful operetta (Bittersweet). In most of Coward's plays, his upperclass characters misbehaved in various ways, but he rarely returned to the unsparing corrosive vein of The Vortex. Swift-paced sophisticated comedy became his forte, interspersed with unabashed sentiment (the latter memorably represented by his 1945 film Brief Encounter, one of the all-time great handkerchief movies). He brought the 1920s to a resounding close with one of his most enduring hits, Private Lives, co-starring with his frequent leading lady, Gertrude Lawrence; also in the cast was a young, little-known Laurence Olivier.
Coward's career continued to flourish through succeeding decades, but after World War 2, during which his international connections enabled him to serve his country as an unofficial roving agent, his star began to wane. Theatrical fashion in England turned toward angry discontent and the kitchen sink. But in the 1960s, he had something of a renaissance; and Hay Fever became the first work by a living author to be performed at England's National Theatre. Nowadays, there is seldom if ever a moment when Noel Coward is absent from the professional stage.
He was knighted in 1970, somewhat belatedly. He died in Jamaica in 1973.
Vast numbers of people have been eager and willing to buy tickets for Hay Fever for over eighty years. The Chemainus audience can now enjoy this delectable fruit of Noel Coward's unique genius -- what he modestly called his 'talent to amuse'.
"I love criticism just so long as it's unqualified praise." - Noel Coward
