Noel Coward was a sly old thing. Fallen Angels was written directly after his youthful and scandalously stunning debut with The Vortex but wasn’t produced until he’d proved he was no flash in the pan. Then it took its place in the trio of West End hits that made him the glittering theatrical name that endures to this day. It’s seldom performed, so I was glad to fill this gap in my archive of classics. Am I glad I did.
The plot’s simple.Two upper-class wives have stuffy husbands more interested in golf than in them. Both women had affairs with Maurice, a Frenchman (need we say any more?) before they were wed. When Maurice sends them both a postcard announcing his imminent return and their husbands set off for a bout of distant putting, the girls meet for dinner, get plastered, and resolve to follow the instincts boredom has reawakened, but collusion turns relentlessly into rivalry.
I can’t any more without spoiling this plot full of surprises but its charm lies in the convincingly realistic dialogue that makes every unexpected twist and turn seem deeply rooted in recognisable behaviour. The result is risqué, hilariously funny, and perfectly moral despite a number of delightfully filthy double-entendres.
Amanda Robinson is perfect as the eager but elegantly neglected wife Julia while Nicola Bannister demonstrates a powerful talent for comedy as the cut-glass Jane whose halo slips after one champagne too many. Robin Lewitt has the matinee idol charm the period calls for while the last act allows Richard Bannister full reign as the stuffy Willy whose English reticence explains why the very idea of a foreigner has so much appeal to a certain kind of wife. But the play also has secret weapon in the role of Saunders the new maid who knows more, much more than her employers about everything, realised by here by Sue Evans with delicious restraint.
The show ends on a heartfelt laugh. Full marks to Elle Knight’s Intimate Theatre for continuing to bring elegantly professional drama to the city and to David Titley’s boisterous direction which brings this neglected classic to vivid life. Finally I must mention the lighting which gave the production that extra edge we so rarely see.
