This Was a Man
Its main characters are Edward Churt, a successful modern portrait painter and his wife Carol whose "vivid personality is composed of a minimum of intellect and a maximum of sex."Even at the very end, when Edward finally declares he is going to divorce Carol, he nonchalantly goes off to lunch, while the last line "there's always time to shoot yourself" brings the play back firmly into comic territory.This Was a Man was refused licence by the Lord Chamberlain (Britain's theatre censor) at the time, despite allowing The Vortex, Noël Coward's play about drug addiction, on the public stage a few years earlier.The play was revived by the company for seasons in Zurich, Monte Carlo, Belgium, Holland, Hamburg Egypt and South America.Though major critics only awarded the production three stars others including 'A Younger Theatre praised that 'Despite the serious themes of the play, there are still some big laughs' .Many critics echoed The Times comment 'That a really rather fine play by Noël Coward has had to wait until now for its professional UK premiere is astounding' This Was a Man finally debuted on London's West End in May 2017.The production's website stated, "The play’s exploration of love, marriage and the shallowness of modern society feel as poignant and relevant as ever."