num_pages: 357
description: This first volume in the Coward Collection contains four plays written within a two year period when Coward and the century were still in their 20s. The volume is introduced by Sheridan Morley, Coward's first biographer."Hay Fever," a comedy of bad manners, concerns a weekend with friends of the Bliss family, who have all been invited independently for a weekend at their country house near Maidenhead. "The Vortex "was a controversial drama in its time, introducing drug-addiction onto the stage at a time when alcoholism was barely mentioned. "Fallen Angels," which is written for two star actresses was described as 'degenerate', 'vile', 'obscene', 'shocking' - the second half of the play is entirely taken up with an alcoholic duologue between the two women. "Easy Virtue" is an elegant, laconic tribute to a lost world of drawing-room dramas, no other writer went more directly to the jugular of that moralistic, tight-lipped but fundamentally hypocritical 20s society.
language: English
title: Plays 1: Hay Fever / The Vortex / Fallen Angels / Easy Virtue
titlecomplete: Plays 1: Hay Fever / The Vortex / Fallen Angels / Easy Virtue
genres: 20th Century, Classics, Drama, Plays, Fiction, Humor, Theatre
ratings_count: 88
series: Coward Plays
publisher: Methuen Drama