Noël

1956 · 175173 — New York: 1956. A complicated web of intrigue An original script for the playwright's salacious drama never performed in his lifetime inspired by Ian Fleming's affair with Blanche Blackwell. The two were Coward's neighbours during his time in Jamaica. Coward and Fleming were close friends. In 1948 Coward visited Jamaica where he rented Goldeneye from Fleming for a week: "On arrival a boyish teasing friendship and good-natured rivalry over Jamaica began between Coward and Fleming. Fleming too enjoyed the sparring and wrote about the outcome of Coward's first visit. 'He Coward then went off and as close to me as he could get built a house what am I saying - four houses and - to hell with the charms of Bermuda and Switzerland! - comes here every year" Brooks p. 226. Coward's Jamaican home allowed him to observe the actions of his neighbours from a close range: "A complicated web of intrigue which gave Coward ample material for his play" Hoare. This not only included Fleming and Blackwell's affair but also that of Fleming's wife Ann with the politician Hugh Gaitskell. Coward would later write about another of Fleming's affairs with his future wife Ann in his only novel Pomp and Circumstance 1960. Provenance: Geoffrey A. Johnson Coward's close friend and US representative with his ownership stamps. Johnson 1930-2021 cast over 100 Broadway shows including Cats The Phantom of the Opera and Les Misérables. He first met Coward in 1961 when he worked as the stage manager for the Broadway production of Coward's Sail Away. The two went on to work together until Coward's death in 1973. Johnson acted as a trustee of the Noël Coward Foundation and was the Life President of the Noël Coward Archive Trust. Quarto. 97 mimeographed leaves printed rectos only. Original brown wrappers secured by three brass split pins front cover lettered in black sticker for the Rialto Mimeographing and Typing Service Bureau on front wrapper. Bottom edge a little nicked and creased: a near-fine copy. Victoria Brooks Literary Trips: Following in the Footsteps of Fame Volume 1 2002; Philip Hoare "Volcano: Noël Coward's Caribbean Play" The Arts Desk accessible online. unknown