The Theatre of War

Post-Mortem and Cavalcade were written in the Far East and represent a conflict within Coward concerning Britain’s role in contemporary history. Post-Mortem, more openly satirical about the First World War and more pacifist than Sheriff’s Journey’s End, has an interesting flashback (or flash forward) construction, but was not staged. Cavalcade which was, is an episodic celebration of British history since the Boer War, uncritical and patriotic. Coward chose Cavalcade and had a huge success with it, but left for one of his foreign tours with uneasy twinges about his decision.