 Coward described the piece as "a light episode, little more than a curtain-raiser" and felt that it fulfilled that function adequately".His friend the actress Lynn Fontanne disagreed, and told him that the audience needed to believe that the two main characters were in love, but that the idea came across as very silly.At the time of the first production "The Manchester Guardian" described the play as "a witty little piece", but subsequent critical opinion has varied.