Edward Churt is a successful painter. His wife Carol has a ‘vivid personality composed of a minimum of intellect and a maximum of sex’. Increasingly aware of her infidelity, Edward defends himself with a veneer of sophisticated insouciance. But his best friend and army comrade is determined to avenge him...
This Was a Man explores some of Coward’s lifelong themes of social mores, jealousy and the futility of a life with no moral compass. Can good manners emasculate us? What happens when we repress our inner caveman? Is it more courageous to look away or to face our demons and fight? What, indeed, does it mean to be a man?
Learn more about This Was a Man - and how it went unperformed for nearly 90 years - on the Samuel French blog.
Banned by the Lord Chamberlain in 1926 for its facetious and irreverent treatment of adultery, THIS WAS A MAN was not performed professionally in the UK until its debut at the Finborough Theatre in 2014. This is the first time the play has been published as a single volume in the UK.