Relative Values (play)
Coward had been entertaining the troops and the home front during World War II, and since Blithe Spirit in 1941 he had not written any comedies (other than musicals).[3] It also came as Coward was just beginning a new career, for it opened just a few days after his personal triumph in his first "cabaret" show at the Café de Paris.[3] Relative Values was the first of several plays that achieved at least modest success, including South Sea Bubble (1951), Quadrille (1952) and Nude with Violin (1956), although they failed to match the popularity of his pre-war hits.[6] The play, directed by the author, starred Gladys Cooper as Felicity, Judy Campbell as Miranda, and Angela Baddeley as Moxie.[10] A film, based on the play, was made in 2000, starring Julie Andrews as Felicity, Colin Firth as Peter, Jeanne Tripplehorn as Miranda and William Baldwin as Don.Crestwell suggests taking Moxie's transformation a step further, giving it out that she has inherited money and has resigned, and is staying at Marshwood House as a personal friend of Felicity's.To Moxie's suppressed fury, Miranda spins yarns about her upbringing and family, pretending she was a slum child with an abusive, alcoholic elder sister, whom, she says, she still supports financially.[14] The Daily Express critic wrote, "Its success is certain" but added, "I tried hard to convince myself that his impudent talent glinted here at its brightest.[15] The Daily Mirror commented, "The play, despite flashes of wit (with Coward coming the old acid as only he can) was oddly unattractive.... Gladys Cooper nobly carried the whole on her talented shoulders.[16] The Manchester Guardian noted that several things fell flat, including the toast at the end, and judged the play old-fashioned but done well: "The skill gives pleasure... never less than professionally neat, and often something much more – genuinely witty.