Still Life (play) in Paris in 1968 under the title "Brève Recontre" (presented in tandem with "Nous Dansons"), and in the same year, along with "Fumed Oak", it formed the basis for a musical, not by Coward, called "Mr. and Mrs". The film was remade in 1974 starring Richard Burton and Sophia Loren. In 2008, a stage version of "Brief Encounter" was presented in London at the Haymarket Cinema and on tour by Kneehigh Theatre using a combination of the text of "Still Life" and the screenplay. In May 2009, Houston Grand Opera premiered an opera in two acts based on "Brief Encounter",
Noël Coward congenital bachelor." Coward firmly believed his private business was not for public discussion, considering ""any" sexual activities when over-advertised" to be tasteless. Even in the 1960s, Coward refused to acknowledge his sexual orientation publicly, wryly observing, "There are still a few old ladies in Worthing who don't know." Despite this reticence, he encouraged his secretary Cole Lesley to write a frank biography once Coward was safely dead. Coward's most important relationship, which began in the mid-1940s and lasted until his death, was with the South African stage and film actor Graham Payn. Coward featured Payn in several of his London