Private Lives is a play written by Noel Coward in 1930. Coward, who also starred in the first production alongside Gertrude Lawrence and Laurence Olivier, wrote the play specifically with Lawrence in mind. The play was conceived on a trip around the world, and completed in only four days, while Coward was convalescing in the Peace Hotel (then known as the Cathay Hotel) in Shanghai after a bout of influenza. It was Coward's most enduringly successful work and is generally regarded as the high point of his career both commercially and artistically. Noël Coward Sir Noel Peirce Coward (spelling his forename Noël with the diaeresis was an affectation of later life, and Peirce is the correct spelling) (December 16, 1899 - March 26, 1973) was an English actor, playwright, and composer of popular music. ... 1930 is a common year starting on Wednesday. ... Gertrude Lawrence (June 4, 1898 - September 6, 1952) was an actress and musical performer popular in the 1930s-40s, appearing on stage in London and on Broadway, and in several films. ... Laurence Olivier, as photographed in 1939 by Carl Van Vechten Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier, OM, KBE (May 22, 1907 – July 11, 1989) was an English actor and director, esteemed by many as the greatest actor of the 20th century. ... The North Building of The Peace Hotel The Peace Hotel, is a world famous hotel on The Bund in Shanghai, China at the center of the former British Concession and overlooking the Huangpu River. ... Shanghai (Chinese: 上海; pinyin: ; Shanghainese IPA: ), situated on the banks of the Yangtze River Delta, is Chinas largest city. ... Negatively stained flu virions. ...

The action concerns a divorced couple, Amanda and Elyot, both recently remarried, who each happen to accidentally book adjoining suites at the same hotel for their honeymoons. The play centres on the two leads and their agonising realisation that they still care for each other, and contains some of Coward's best dialogue.

Having been written for Lawrence, the play has nonetheless fared well throughout its many years of worldwide revival. A sound recording of Coward and Lawrence performing scenes from the play, made by HMV in the 1930s, still survives and is available on CD. The play contains many of Coward's most quotable lines as well as the original song Someday I'll Find You.

External link

• information on play's history
• Links to some reviews of the 2005 Bath production