Synopsis
The first single edition of Noël Coward's most controversial play.
"Only
in Semi-Monde does Coward find a successful metaphor for the sexual
complications that lie behind his posturing.
Semi-Monde is easily the
most visually daring of his comedies, and the most intellectually
startling ... made up of sexually mischievous tableaux
vivants and gets much nearer the homosexual knuckle than Coward's
public image allowed."
- (John Lahr, London Review of Books)
Written
in 1926 and originally entitled Ritz Bar, Semi-Monde was considered too
daring for its time: "its production in London or New York seemed
unlikely as some of the characters, owing to lightly suggested
abnormalities, would certainly be deleted by the censor" (Noël Coward,
Present Indicative).
The play finally received its public premiere only
after Coward's death, at the Citizen's Theatre, Glasgow, in September
1977.
