The following preview appeared in the Swindon Advertiser on Thursday 26 February 2009 and, along with the photograph, is reproduced with their kind permission:
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Scene from The Vortex. From left: Wendy Vickery, Owen Fishwick,
and Fenella Harrop.
Picture: Alan Owens |
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The roaring 1920s was the world of Noel Coward, full of glamour, glitz, martinis and his satirical eye. The curtain rises tonight on the famous playwright's stinging drama of the cocktail set, The Vortex. The play is brought to life this week by the Old Town Theatre Company that welcomes back two of its veteran actors. Fenella Harrop, who takes on the role of Helen Saville the faithful friend, and Jane Ackrill, who plays Clara Hibbert the affected soprano singer.
The leading role is Florence Lancaster, played by Wendy Vickery, a vain woman who, to counteract the fear of getting old, takes a toy boy, played by Stuart Quinn. Wendy said: "Florence's biggest fear is growing old. If she loses her looks and youth, she'd lose everything."
The Vortex was the drama that put Noel Coward firmly on the map in the theatrical world and, of course, there is a plum part for himself. In 1924 he took the role of Nicky Lancaster, the son who is starved of his mother's love.
The Vortex runs until Saturday at the Swindon Arts Centre, Devizes Road in Old Town. Tickets are £7.50 from 01793 614837.
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