Any play directed by Stephen Unwin has a head start, and the current production of The Vortex is no exception. On my way to the press night at Kingston’s Rose Theatre I was thinking "Hmmm, probably classic Noel Coward, heavy Edwardian furniture, people wafting about in silk dressing gowns, witty exchanges and cigarette holders." Well, I was right bout the cigarette holders, but not much else.
Unwin’s set is simply a square white canvas, slightly on a tilt, and furniture is minimal and far from Edwardian. The sofa taking centre stage is a pair of big red lips, very 60’s in fact. Immediately I felt excited by this fresh, minimalist approach to what was to be a very intense and let’s say, spirited play - a far cry from the middle-class light comedy so often attributed to Coward.
The Vortex is in fact fast-paced, raunchy, funny, sad, slightly frightening and absolutely gripping. It tells of the return from Paris of a creative, lively, passionate young man called Nicky, brilliantly played by David Dawson. Truly I could not take my eyes of him - his energy spitting forth with every word, his body tense with emotion. Dawson can convey a sweep of emotion by literally moving just an eyebrow.
There are flashes of Shakespeare in his acting, and his final scene, which I won’t give away, is incredibly moving, drenched in emotion and physically demanding.
Equally engaging is his mother, Florence, played with flamboyant assuredness by Kerry Fox, whose intense relationship with men and her crippling need to be adored eventually brings her and Nicky head-to-head. Fox occasionally has a little Ab Fab about her voice which brought titters from the audience, sometimes in lines that I felt weren’t actually meant to be funny. But comedy is far from our minds in the final ten minutes when Fox puts every ounce of energy and passion into a heady, tumbling, psychological confrontation with Nicky. They are, as Nicky puts it: “Swirling around in a Vortex of beastliness.”
Bustling around them and trying to patch up their fractured lives are an assortment of family and friends, all truly believable in their roles, but the biggest surprise of all being James Dreyfus (from Gimme Gimme Gimme) whose sharply flouncing wit brings roars of laughter. Dreyfus is perfect for Coward’s dialogue - sharp, spikey and very witty.
Noel Coward was only 23 when he wrote The Vortex, and the year was 1924. His idea came when he was eating at a supper club and his friend’s mother was seen cavorting with a much younger man. Out of Coward’s speculation as to how his friend would re-act came the idea for The Vortex.
It is incredible that the young Coward could so compassionately put himself into the shoes of a much older woman who is definitely not ageing gracefully, and he completely captures the pain of the mother-son relationship. Along with themes of inappropriate parental behaviour and the frightening grip of addiction, we get a snapshot of middle-class post-First World War.
Life in England was on the cusp of massive change politically and socially - little does Nicky know this as he clutches his mother in desperation, clawing at her clothes and repeating again and again “Promise me you’ll change, promise me, promise me.”
Whether change brings Nicky the peace he so yearns for is left for us to decide.
Last few days! Don’t miss it - The Vortex is at the Rose Theatre Kingston until March 2.
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