Blithe Spirit, Hay Fever, Private Lives: Three Plays (Vintage International)

Filled with languid aristocrats trading witticisms as they wait for martinis, this collection of three Noel Coward plays encapsulates the qualities that made him one of the most popular playwrights of the 1930s and '40s and one of the great personalities of the century.

In Blithe Spirit, Charles Condomine receives a visit from his first wife, Elvira. Unfortunately, Elvira is now a ghost and Charles has, understandably, moved on and married Ruth.

The bohemian protagonists of Hay Fever wreak emotional havoc on a house full of weekend visitors.

In Private Lives, a recently divorced couple find themselves in adjoining hotel rooms while on honeymoon with their new spouses.

Noël Coward, an English playwright, actor, composer, and director, was born in 1899 in Teddington, a suburb of London. He was called “the Master” of theater by his colleagues and fans. His career spanned six decades and many of his plays—including Blithe Spirit, Hay Fever, and Private Lives—are still in regular theater repertory.