The Vortex - Apollo Theatre
Preview by Lizzie Guilfoyle
FOLLOWING a brief regional tour, Sir Peter Hall’s revival of Noel Coward’s 1924 play, The Vortex, will transfer to the West End’s Apollo Theatre where it will run from February 20 to June 7, 2008.
Against a backdrop of glittering decadence, The Vortex centres on the tempestuous relationship between glamorous socialite Florence Lancaster, whose appetite for younger men is fuelled by her refusal to grow old, and her hedonistic son Nicky who finds himself competing for her love.
And it’s this insatiable need in his mother that is the crux of the ‘Vortex of beastliness’ that drives Nicky to his demons.
Florence is played by Felicity Kendal whose stage credits include Humble Boy, Clouds, Arcadia, The Real Thing, Happy Days and, most recently Amy’s View. On television, she co-stars with Pam Ferris in Rosemary and Thyme and will, of course, always be remembered for her role in the classic sitcom, The Good Life.
Also in the cast of The Vortex are Dan Stevens (BBC’s The Line of Beauty) as Nicky, Phoebe Nichols (Cordelia Flyte from Brideshead Revisited) and Annette Badland (Cutting It). They will be joined by Vivien Keene, Daniel Pirrie, Paul Ridley, Timothy Speyer, Cressida Trew and Barry Stanton.
The Vortex has set design by Alison Chitty, lighting by Paul Pyant, sound by Gregory Clarke, movement by Laila Diallo and music by Mick Sands.
The last major London revival of The Vortex, which starred Francesca Annis and Chiwetel Ejiofor, was at the Donmar Warehouse in 2002. And in 2006, pop star Will Young made his professional stage debut as Nicky in a production at Manchester’s Royal Exchange.
Glengarry Glen Ross is currently playing at the Apollo Theatre.
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