The Vortex
Apollo
Plague Over England
Finborough
Major Barbara
Olivier
Like a footballer’s wife on a shopping binge at Harrods. That’s how Felicity Kendal lashes into the fabulous role of Florence Lancaster in The Vortex. Every fold, every tassle, every rippling golden pleat of this part is sifted and ransacked for its emotional possibilities. Florence is an unstable fading beauty whose young lovers collide jealously with her adoring son, Nicky. Noël Coward’s breakthrough play evokes the ache of despair beneath the hedonist glitz of the 1920s, and this near-flawless production, directed by Peter Hall, is marred only by its rather schematic sets. Aside from Kendal — and she gives the performance of a lifetime — Phoebe Nicholls is terrific as the earthy, reserved Helen who befriends all, flatters none, and who sees the truth behind Nicky’s secret drug addiction.
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