THIS WAS A MAN to Play Finborough Theatre, Begin. 15 July

By: Jun. 24, 2014
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Banned by the Lord Chamberlain for its facetious and irreverent treatment of adultery, This Was A Man, a previously unseen play by Noël Coward, directed by actress Belinda Lang, opens for its long overdue UK professional premiere in a strictly limited three week season at the Finborough Theatre on Tuesday, 15 July 2014 (Press Night: Thursday, 17 July 2014 at 7.30pm).

Edward Churt is a successful painter. His wife Carol has a "vivid personality composed of a minimum of intellect and a maximum of sex". Increasingly aware of her infidelity, Edward defends himself with a veneer of sophisticated insouciance. But his best friend and army comrade is determined to avenge him...

This Was A Man explores some of Coward's lifelong and enduring themes of social mores, jealousy and the futility of a life with no moral compass. Can good manners emasculate us? What happens when we repress our inner caveman? Is it more courageous to look away or to face our demons and fight? What, indeed, does it mean to be a "man"?

Written in 1925 and immediately banned by the censor, This Was A Man opened on Broadway in 1926, and was subsequently produced across Europe, but has never been seen professionally in the UK until now.

Sir No?l Coward was born in 1899, and died in 1973. He was an actor, playwright, screenwriter, composer, lyricist, artist, novelist, short story writer, poet and cabaret artist. His many plays include The Vortex, Hay Fever, Easy Virtue, Bitter Sweet, Private Lives, Fallen Angels, Cavalcade, Design for Living, Tonight At 8.30, This Happy Breed, Present Laughter and Blithe Spirit. His screenplays include In Which We Serve and Brief Encounter. His songs include Mad Dogs and Englishmen.

Director Belinda Lang has appeared in numerous plays by Noël Coward, including Hands Across The Sea, Private Lives (Theatre Royal Bath and National Tour), Blithe Spirit (Chichester Festival Theatre), Hay Fever (Theatre Royal Haymarket and Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester), A Song At Twilight (National Tour) and Present Laughter (Vaudeville Theatre), which she has also appeared in and directed on a National Tour. Her most recent production as a director was the National Tour of The Reluctant Debutante by William Douglas Home.



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