{"product_id":"9781780013879","title":"Love in Idleness \/ Less Than Kind (The Rattigan Collection)","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eLove in Idleness\u003c\/i\u003e is the third in Terence Rattigan's unofficial trilogy of war plays (after \u003ci\u003eFlare Path\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eWhile the Sun Shines\u003c\/i\u003e). It is published here alongside an earlier version of the play, \u003ci\u003eLess Than Kind\u003c\/i\u003e, which was never staged during Rattigan's lifetime.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eMichael, eighteen, returns to wartime London from schooling in Canada, brimming with youthful left-wing convictions. Reunited with his mother, he is alarmed as he begins to realise that she is the mistress of a leading member of the war cabinet. Sparks fly between the idealistic younger man and the pragmatic politician, while the mother is torn between them...\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eRattigan's first version of this comedy, \u003ci\u003eLess Than Kind\u003c\/i\u003e, was never staged and never published until 2011, the centenary of his birth. Instead it was substantially rewritten at the behest of the Lunts, who were to star in the premiere production, and it opened in the West End in 1944 as \u003ci\u003eLove in Idleness\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThis volume presents both plays in full so that readers may judge for themselves which is the better. \u003ci\u003eLess Than Kind\u003c\/i\u003e was premiered in London in January 2011.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThis edition includes an authoritative introduction by Dan Rebellato, a biographical sketch and chronology.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e'Few dramatists of this century have written with more understanding of the human heart than Terence Rattigan' - \u003ci\u003eGuardian\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Hern, Nick Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47152234004720,"sku":"9781780013879","price":23.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781780013879_p0.jpg?v=1763710830","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781780013879","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}