"This Was a Man": A Comedy in Three Acts

“This Was a Man: A Comedy in Three Acts” by Noël Coward is a stage play written in the early 20th century. The play focuses on the entangled relationships and moral dilemmas of upper-class English society, centering around portrait painter Edward Churt, his wife Carol, and their circle of friends and lovers. Likely comedic in tone but rich with social commentary, the play explores themes of fidelity, emotional intelligence, and the superficialities of modern life through witty repartee among its characters. The opening of “This Was a Man” introduces the private world of Edward Churt’s stylish London studio, where Carol engages in a late-night, flirtatious rendezvous with Harry Challoner, signaling early on the play’s preoccupation with marital infidelity and complex desires. As the scenes shift from Edward’s studio to Evelyn Bathurst’s orderly flat, the audience meets various characters, including the candid Margot, the clever Zoe, and the staunchly upright Evelyn. Dialogue-driven scenes reveal strained marriages, brittle friendships, and the characters’ reliance on wit to mask vulnerability and disillusionment. Tensions escalate as Evelyn confronts Carol over her behavior, leading to emotional confessions and reversals of blame between the sexes, particularly when Carol reveals Edward’s own affair. The interplay of honesty, betrayal, and emotional exhaustion in these opening acts sets up the play’s exploration of identity, passion, and the costs of self-awareness in a cosmopolitan, rapidly changing world.