Critical Reception
Coward himself later said of the play, "Still Life was the most mature play of the whole series.... It is well written, economical and well constructed: the characters, I think, are true, and I can say now, reading it with detachment after so many years, that I am proud to have written it." John Lahr, in his book on Coward's plays, disagreed: "when he wrote himself into the role of an ardent heterosexual lover... the characterisation is wooden. The master of the comic throw-away becomes too loquacious when he gets serious, and his fine words ring false." At the first production, critical opinion agreed with Coward. The Times called it "a serious and sympathetic study of humdrum people suddenly trapped by love" and strongly praised Coward both for the play and his performance.
Read more about this topic: Still Life (play)
Famous quotes containing the words critical and/or reception:
“Probably more than youngsters at any age, early adolescents expect the adults they care about to demonstrate the virtues they want demonstrated. They also tend to expect adults they admire to be absolutely perfect. When adults disappoint them, they can be critical and intolerant.”
—The Lions Clubs International and the Quest Nation. The Surprising Years, I, ch.4 (1985)
“To aim to convert a man by miracles is a profanation of the soul. A true conversion, a true Christ, is now, as always, to be made by the reception of beautiful sentiments.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)