Nude with Violin
Encyclopedia
Nude with Violin is a play by Noël Coward
. A light comedy of manners
, the play is Coward's satire on "Modern Art
" (and the art world in general) and the value placed on art.
Its original London production, opening in 1956, was successful, running for more than a year. However, it failed to match the popularity of his pre-war hits and has rarely been revived.
in London's West End
, starring John Gielgud
, co-directed by Gielgud and Coward. It ran until 1 February 1958. During the run, Michael Wilding
and later Robert Helpmann
took over the lead role of Sebastien.
The production opened at the Belasco Theatre
on Broadway
in November 1957, starring the author, with Morris Carnovsky
, Joyce Carey
and Luba Malina. The production won the 1958 Tony Award
for Best Scenic Design. It then had a U.S. national tour.
Robert Helpmann led the cast in a tour of Australia after the play closed in London in 1958, and also in a televised version broadcast in the UK in 1959.
Directed by Lída Engelová, the play ran for two days in April 2009 in the Eastern Bohemian Theatre, Pardubice
, Czech Republic
. The Czech title is Nahá s houslemi. The play was translated by Jiří Mucha, Johana Kudláčková and Lída Engelová.
, Obadiah Lewellyn.
liked the idea of a celebrated painter who turns out never to have painted anything, but found it "apparently incapable of developments... Mr Coward can only proceed to play variations on it. Some of them are cosily amusing but... the author is left in the end trying rather desperately to lure us into the belief that the perpetrator of the monstrous 'Nude with Violin' is the artful valet himself."
The Observer
critic Kenneth Tynan
said that the play "recalls those triumphant Letters to the Editor which end: 'What has this so-called "Picasso" got that my six-year-old daughter hasn't?'.... When Sir John Gielgud appears in modern dress on the London stage for only the second time since the late nineteen-forties, selecting as his vehicle Noel Coward's Nude with Violin, one's expectations are naturally low. Sir John never acts seriously in modern dress; it is the lounging attire in which he relaxes between classical bookings, and his present performance as a simpering valet is an act of boyish mischief, carried out with extreme elegance and the general aspect of a tight, smart, walking umbrella."
Noël Coward
Sir Noël Peirce Coward was an English playwright, composer, director, actor and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what Time magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and chic, pose and poise".Born in Teddington, a suburb of London, Coward attended a dance academy...
. A light comedy of manners
Comedy of manners
The comedy of manners is a genre of play/television/film which satirizes the manners and affectations of a social class, often represented by stock characters, such as the miles gloriosus in ancient times, the fop and the rake during the Restoration, or an old person pretending to be young...
, the play is Coward's satire on "Modern Art
Modern art
Modern art includes artistic works produced during the period extending roughly from the 1860s to the 1970s, and denotes the style and philosophy of the art produced during that era. The term is usually associated with art in which the traditions of the past have been thrown aside in a spirit of...
" (and the art world in general) and the value placed on art.
Its original London production, opening in 1956, was successful, running for more than a year. However, it failed to match the popularity of his pre-war hits and has rarely been revived.
Background and productions
After a tour beginning at the Olympia Theatre, Dublin on 24 September 1956, the play opened on 8 November 1956 at the Globe TheatreGielgud Theatre
The Gielgud Theatre is a West End theatre, located on Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster, London, at the corner of Rupert Street. The house currently has 889 seats on three levels.-History:...
in London's West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
, starring John Gielgud
John Gielgud
Sir Arthur John Gielgud, OM, CH was an English actor, director, and producer. A descendant of the renowned Terry acting family, he achieved early international acclaim for his youthful, emotionally expressive Hamlet which broke box office records on Broadway in 1937...
, co-directed by Gielgud and Coward. It ran until 1 February 1958. During the run, Michael Wilding
Michael Wilding (actor)
-Early life:Born in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, England, Wilding was a successful commercial artist when he joined the art department of a London film studio in 1933. He soon embarked on an acting career.-Career:...
and later Robert Helpmann
Robert Helpmann
Sir Robert Helpmann CBE was an Australian dancer, actor, theatre director and choreographer.-Early years:He was born Robert Murray Helpman in Mount Gambier, South Australia and also boarded at Prince Alfred College in Adelaide. From childhood, Helpman had a strong desire to be a dancer...
took over the lead role of Sebastien.
The production opened at the Belasco Theatre
Belasco Theatre
The Belasco Theatre is a legitimate Broadway theatre located at 111 West 44th Street in midtown-Manhattan.-History:Designed by architect George Keister for impresario David Belasco, the interior featured Tiffany lighting and ceiling panels, rich woodwork and expansive murals by American artist...
on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
in November 1957, starring the author, with Morris Carnovsky
Morris Carnovsky
Morris Carnovsky was an American stage and film actor born in St. Louis, Missouri. He worked briefly in the Yiddish theatre before attending Washington University in St. Louis...
, Joyce Carey
Joyce Carey
Joyce Carey, OBE was a British actress, best known for her long professional and personal relationship with Noël Coward. Her stage career lasted from 1916 until 1984, and she was performing on television in her nineties. Though never a star, she was a familiar face both on stage and screen...
and Luba Malina. The production won the 1958 Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
for Best Scenic Design. It then had a U.S. national tour.
Robert Helpmann led the cast in a tour of Australia after the play closed in London in 1958, and also in a televised version broadcast in the UK in 1959.
Directed by Lída Engelová, the play ran for two days in April 2009 in the Eastern Bohemian Theatre, Pardubice
Pardubice
Pardubice is the capital city of the Pardubice Region and lies on the river Elbe, 65 miles east of Prague. Pardubice has an antique centre square and old town, with many restaurants that stay open until late in the evening. There is an old Tower and a recently renovated Castle...
, Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
. The Czech title is Nahá s houslemi. The play was translated by Jiří Mucha, Johana Kudláčková and Lída Engelová.
Characters and original cast
- Sebastien – John GielgudJohn GielgudSir Arthur John Gielgud, OM, CH was an English actor, director, and producer. A descendant of the renowned Terry acting family, he achieved early international acclaim for his youthful, emotionally expressive Hamlet which broke box office records on Broadway in 1937...
- Marie-Celeste – Gillian Webb
- Clinton Preminger Jr – John SterlandJohn SterlandJohn Sterland is an Canadian film and television actor.Sterland was born in 1927 in Winnipeg to English-born parents.-Films:* The Dirty Dozen – Ambulance driver*The Man Outside - Spencer...
- Isobel Sorodin – Joyce CareyJoyce CareyJoyce Carey, OBE was a British actress, best known for her long professional and personal relationship with Noël Coward. Her stage career lasted from 1916 until 1984, and she was performing on television in her nineties. Though never a star, she was a familiar face both on stage and screen...
- Jane – Ann Castle
- Colin – Basil HensonBasil HensonBasil Henson was a British actor. Henson had a lengthy career on stage and television. His stage performances included a number of parts in Shakespeare productions, including once opposite Dustin Hoffman...
- Pamela – Patricia Rayne
- Jacob Friedland – David Horne
- Anya Pavlikov – Patience Collier
- Cherry-May Waterton – Kathleen HarrisonKathleen HarrisonKathleen Harrison was a prolific English character actress best remembered for her role as Mrs. Huggett in a trio of British post-war comedies about a working class family's misadventures. To modern viewers she is better remembered as Mrs...
- Fabrice – Douglas Robinson
- Obadiah Lewellyn – Thomas Baptiste
- Lauderdale – Nicky Edmett
Plot
The play is set in Paris in 1954. The famous painter, Paul Sorodin, has died. His relatives and hangers-on converge on his studio, hopeful of financial gain, and are stunned to learn from his valet, Sebastien, that Sorodin has left a letter in which he admits that he never painted a picture in his life. The paintings of Sorodin’s supposed three major periods turn out to have been executed by a choleric aristocrat, Anya Pavlikov; a jolly barmaid, Cherry-May Waterton; and a Jamaican Seventh-day AdventistSeventh-day Adventist Church
The Seventh-day Adventist Church is a Protestant Christian denomination distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the original seventh day of the Judeo-Christian week, as the Sabbath, and by its emphasis on the imminent second coming of Jesus Christ...
, Obadiah Lewellyn.
Critical reaction
The reviews were polite but not laudatory. The Manchester Guardian called the play "good entertainment" but felt that Coward's subject, hypocrisy about modern art, was stale. The TimesThe Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
liked the idea of a celebrated painter who turns out never to have painted anything, but found it "apparently incapable of developments... Mr Coward can only proceed to play variations on it. Some of them are cosily amusing but... the author is left in the end trying rather desperately to lure us into the belief that the perpetrator of the monstrous 'Nude with Violin' is the artful valet himself."
The Observer
The Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
critic Kenneth Tynan
Kenneth Tynan
Kenneth Peacock Tynan was an influential and often controversial English theatre critic and writer.-Early life:...
said that the play "recalls those triumphant Letters to the Editor which end: 'What has this so-called "Picasso" got that my six-year-old daughter hasn't?'.... When Sir John Gielgud appears in modern dress on the London stage for only the second time since the late nineteen-forties, selecting as his vehicle Noel Coward's Nude with Violin, one's expectations are naturally low. Sir John never acts seriously in modern dress; it is the lounging attire in which he relaxes between classical bookings, and his present performance as a simpering valet is an act of boyish mischief, carried out with extreme elegance and the general aspect of a tight, smart, walking umbrella."