Noël Coward: an entertainer abroad

Noël Coward (1899-1973) was a prolific and successful playwright, composer, director, actor and singer. This exhibition, drawn from material held at the Cadbury Research Library, celebrates his career on the international stage from the 1920s until shortly before his death.

We explore Coward’s involvement with American theatre and the absorption of Broadway’s smartness and pace into his own work during the 1920s; his involvement in the war effort during the 1940s, entertaining troops with music and cabaret whilst touring indefatigably across Europe, Africa, Asia and America; and we illustrate his twilight years film career, acting in The Italian Job (1969), shortly before his death.

An extended version of this exhibition will be available on the Cadbury Research Library’s Flickr page. Part of the University’s Book to the Future Festival 2015.