Editing Present Laughter (section)

==Background==
In April and May 1939  [[Noël Coward]] wrote two contrasting comedies, both with titles drawn from [[William Shakespeare|Shakespeare]].<ref name=cmm/> One, ''[[This Happy Breed]]'', was set in a modest suburban household; the other, originally titled ''Sweet Sorrow'', later ''Present Laughter'', depicted the affairs of a star actor. The title "Present Laughter" is drawn from the song "[[O Mistress Mine]]" in ''[[Twelfth Night]]'', Act 2, Scene 3, which urges ''[[carpe diem]]'' ("present mirth hath present laughter").{{refn|The word ''present'' in the title is pronounced as the adjective {{IPAc-en|ˈ|p|r|ɛ|z|ən|t}}, and not the verb {{IPAc-en|p|r|ᵻ|ˈ|z|ɛ|n|t}}.<ref>Shakespeare, p. 708</ref> "This happy breed", referring to the English nation, is a quotation from  ''[[Richard II (play)|Richard II]]'', Act 2, Scene 1;<ref>Shakespeare, p. 360</ref> "sweet sorrow" is from ''[[Romeo and Juliet]]'', Act 2, Scene 2.<ref>Shakespeare, p. 327</ref>|group=n}} The plot of ''Present Laughter'' had been forming in Coward's mind over the previous three years, but he recalled in his memoirs that once he began writing it, the play was completed in six days.<ref>Coward (1954), p. 212</ref> He described it as "a very light comedy ... written with the sensible object of providing me with a bravura part".<ref>Coward (1979), unnumbered introductory page</ref> He planned to appear in both the new plays in the autumn of 1939, and they were in rehearsal for a pre-London tour when the [[Second World War]] began on 2 September; all theatres were closed by government order, and the production was shelved.<ref name=cmm>Coward (1954), p. 15; and Mander and Mitchenson, p. 353</ref>

Between the outbreak of war and 1942 Coward worked for the British government, first in its Paris propaganda office and then for the secret service.<ref name=dnb>Hoare, Philip. [https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-30976 "Coward, Sir Noël Peirce (1899–1973), playwright and composer"], ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2011. Retrieved 12 May 2019 {{ODNBsub}}</ref> In 1942 the prime minister,  [[Winston Churchill]], told Coward that he would do more good for the war effort by entertaining the troops and the home front: "Go and sing to them when the guns are firing – that's your job!"<ref>Morley (1974), p. 246</ref> Though disappointed, Coward followed this advice. He toured, acted and sang indefatigably in Europe, Africa and Asia.<ref>Morley (2005), pp. 76–77</ref>