originally published: 05/14/2016
(MADISON, NJ) -- The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey kicked off their 2016 season on May 11 with A Song at Twilight by Noël Coward. Somewhat autobiographical, this final play from the master of sophisticated wit is enhanced by live piano accompaniment that is peppered throughout the action.
There has been a surge of interest in this entertaining and bittersweet comedy in recent years, and the Theatre is thrilled that revered company member Edmond Genest appears in the leading role. A Song at Twilight is directed by Paul Mullins runs through May 29.
from director Paul Mullins’ program notes: Near the end of his career Noël Coward was looking to write a “farewell” play. He said, “I would like to act once more before I fold my bedraggled wings.” What emerged was A Song at Twilight. After finishing the play in March, 1965, he wrote to Lorn Loraine,his lifelong confidante and secretary:“Here, my darling, is my new play. I think and hope you will like it. I think it’s quite a rouser. It is actually the first of my Hotel Suite series. I would like to play it myself with possibly Maggie Leighton and Irene Worth or Irene Worth and Wendy Hiller, or Maggie Leighton and Celia (Johnson).”
from The Letters of Noël Coward, edited by Barry Day: “The idea for the play had been at the back of (Coward’s) mind for some time, inspired by an incident recounted in Max, Lord David Cecil’s biography of Max Beerbohm. Beerbohm in old age was visited by a former lover, the over-vivacious actress Constance Collier. The occasion was humorously embarrassing in real life, but in turning it into drama, Noël admitted to his Diaries, “My play is more sinister, and there is more Maugham* in it as well as Max.”...
* Maugham refers to W. Somerset Maugham (1874-1965), the celebrated British novelist and playwright who was at one time friends with Coward. “In Maugham’s later years Noël had come to see his less likable side... By the time Maugham died that same year, Noël had come to refer to him as that ‘scaly old crocodile.’”
The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey presents A Song At Twilight at The F.M. Kirby Shakespeare Theatre (36 Madison Avenue in Madison, NJ now through May 29. For more on the company visit shakespearenj.org
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