 Coward makes fun of egocentric actors and the pedantry of committees.In the play, the president's lapdog is "the most sympathetic character" in the piece.The Coward specialist Barry Day observes that Lawrence was playing a caricature of her real self, while Coward's role was "a second-rate comedian who is always 'on' and always ignored since everyone has heard his stories endless times – Archie Rice anticipated by twenty years."