To See Ourselves
E M Delafield, is now best known for the comic classic The Diary of a Provincial Lady, which has never been out of print since it was first published in 1931. She was also a successful playwright, with productions in the West End, on Broadway and on the radio.
Productions were seen around Britain and heard on the radio. Maybe it was because Elizabeth Monica Dashwood had to hide her gender behind initials and a pseudonym; maybe it was because Noël Coward’s Private Lives opened in London at the same time as To See Ourselves; whatever the reason, Delafield’s plays were eclipsed and are now forgotten.
Yet, To See Ourselves is a lost theatrical gem, as witty, engaging and thought provoking as anything by Coward, and with a depth of feeling and an engagement with issues of love, relationships, gender and politics that are as pertinent today as they were in the nineteen thirties.
