Overview
Synopsis
“I love you. You love me. You love Otto. I love Otto. Otto loves you. Otto loves me. There now! Start to unravel from there.”
From 1930s bohemian Paris to the stylish Manhattan society, Design for Living is the tale of a ménage à trois involving a painter, a playwright, and the woman they both love. Noel Coward wrote the play as a star vehicle for himself, and his friends Lynn Fontanne and Alfred Lunt, who played the complicated trio: Gilda, Leo, and Otto. Gilda, Leo, and Otto are unashamedly in love with each other and, after a string of complications and feeble attempts to conform to standard moral codes, they defy conventional society to settle into life as a threesome. Or, as Coward called it, a “three-sided, erotic hodge-podge”. Exploring themes of adultery, bisexuality, self-obsession, and the nature of celebrity, Coward’s wickedly funny play was initially deemed too risque to be performed in London. Instead, it opened on Broadway in 1933 to critical acclaim.
Show Information
- Book
- Noël Coward
- Category
- Play
- Age Guidance
- Thirteen Plus (PG-13)
- Number of Acts
- 3
- First Produced
- 1933
- Genres
- Comedy
- Settings
- Period, Multiple Settings
- Time & Place
- Paris, London, New York City, 1930s
- Cast Size
- medium
- Licensor
- Concord Theatricals
- Ideal For
- College/University, Professional Theatre, Regional Theatre, Mostly Male Cast, Includes Adult, Mature Adult, Young Adult Characters, Medium Cast
Context
Plot
Characters
| Name | Part Size | Gender | Vocal Part |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Lead |
Female |
Non-singer |
|
|
Lead |
Male |
Non-singer |
|
|
Lead |
Male |
Non-singer |
|
|
Supporting |
Male |
Non-singer |
|
|
Supporting |
Female |
Non-singer |
|
|
Featured |
Male |
Non-singer |
|
|
Featured |
Male |
Non-singer |
|
|
Featured |
Female |
Non-singer |
|
|
Featured |
Female |
Non-singer |
|
|
Featured |
Male |
Non-singer |
|
|
Featured |
Male |
Non-singer |
Songs
A song with an asterisk (*) before the title indicates a dance number; a character listed in a song with an asterisk (*) by the character's name indicates that the character exclusively serves as a dancer in this song, which is sung by other characters.
Monologues
Scenes
Key Terms
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Videos
Quizzes
Themes, Symbols & Motifs
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Quote Analysis
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Guide Written By:
Alexandra Appleton
Writer, editor and theatre researcher