[2] The author said of the play a decade after he wrote it, "It was well constructed and, on the whole, well written", but added that its production in London or New York had seemed unlikely "as some of the characters, owing to lightly suggested abnormalities, would certainly be deleted by the censor".
His planned production never reached the stage, and, as Coward put it, "eventually Vicki Baum wrote Grand Hotel, and Semi-Monde, being too closely similar in theme, faded gently into oblivion".
Since 1977 there have been amateur and student productions, and a one-off charity gala performance was given at the Royalty Theatre, London in 1987, by a cast including Judi Dench, Adam Faith, Patricia Hodge, Evelyn Laye, Joanna Lumley, June Whitfield and Michael Williams.
Coward then introduces queer couples: Inez Zuleika and Cynthia Gable bicker at each other, and Beverley Ford has a younger man, Cyril Hardacre, in tow.
In Hoare's words: Jerome sums up events: "We're all silly animals, gratifying our beastly desires, covering them with a veneer of decency and good behaviour.