Play name
The Vortex
By Noel Coward
Director and Contact Details
Matt Gould
Phone number: 07970 100502
Playing dates
8th-17th October (including charity performance); There will be matinee and evening performances on Saturday 10th October. No show on Sunday 11th October.
Get-in and Strike
Get-in Sunday 20th September; Strike Sunday 18th October
Venue
BLT Main House
Audition
Sunday 8th March at 1:30pm
About the play
Nicky Lancaster is a young pianist newly returned from a spell in decadent and glamorous Parisian society, with some dubious new habits. While he has been gone, his glamorous and self-absorbed mother, Florence, has taken up with Tom, the latest in a succession of lovers half her age. Nicky introduces his mother to Bunty, his fiancée, but the cracks in their relationship are evident from the beginning. As his relationship with Bunty falls apart and his cocaine habit worsens, Nicky confronts his mother over the emptiness and loneliness of her life and blames her for what he has become.
Although witty and vibrant, The Vortex was way ahead of its time and explores the dark, poisonous side of the fashionable 1920’s Cocktail Party set, depicting drug abuse, sexual vanity, gossip, and infidelity. Coward’s fist big success (1924) setting him up for many future accolades.
Time
1920’s
Location
Florence’s flat in London and the family’s country home.
Style and Genre
Sophisticated drama and dark comedy
Characters
Florence Lancaster (female) – playing age: 40’s/50’s. Leading role. An aging socialite and beauty who clings to her youth through extramarital affairs with younger men. She refuses to let age dull her sparkle, creating gossip in high society. Nicky’s larger than life, self-absorbed mother, whose vanity and lifestyle contribute to the family’s dysfunction.
Nicky Lancaster (male) – playing age: 20’s. Leading role. Florence’s son, a talented but feckless heaththrob composer and pianist recently returned from Paris. He has developed a cocaine addiction and is engaged to Bunty, though their relationship is strained. He has a knack for messy relationships. Coward’s original draft of the play promoted Nicky’s bi-sexuality, but the censor put a red line through a lot of that; we’ll be exploring Coward’s original intentions for the role. This was the role that Coward wrote for himself and propelled him to stardom.
David Lancaster (male) – playing age: 40’s–50’s. Florence’s husband and Nicky’s father, an academic, grounded figure in the dysfunctional family dynamic. He is the calm, strong, sensible one but very happy for the whirlwind to go on around him.
Tom Veryan (male) – playing age: 20’s. Handsome but shallow; all trouble. Florence’s latest young lover, half her age, who was previously involved with Bunty. His presence heightens tensions and jealousy within the family.
Helen Saville (female) – playing age: 30’s-40’s. Florence’s closest friend who advises her to age gracefully. She discovers Nicky’s drug habit and urges him to quit. Think of her as the cool aunt with a knack for cutting through the nonsense.
Bunty Mainwaring (female) – playing age: 20’s. Nicky’s fiancée, a sharp-tongued journalist whose engagement to him appears implausible and strained from the start. She is a strong independent woman, who has got herself mixed up in the madness, and also still has a thing for Tom….
Pauncefort Quentin (“Pawnie”) (male) – playing age: 40’s-50’s. The life and soul of the party. A socialite dripping with charm and cheek. A flamboyant guest at the Lancasters’ house party sipping cocktails and dropping witty one-liners.
Clara Hibbert (female) – playing age: 30’s-40’s. Another dazzling guest at the Lancaster’s house party. She’s all about the glitz and gossip; a perfect side-kick to Florence.
Bruce Fairlight (male) – playing age: 30’s-40’s. A dapper house party guest. The epitome of smooth; floats through the drama with a smirk and a drink. Charming, shallow and cynical.
Preston (female) – playing age 30’s-50’s. The Lancasters’ maid serving team overhearing scandals; and generally keeping things going whilst there is chaos all around.
Audition pieces
Page numbering from Noel Coward Collected Plays 1
Florence 1: (with Helen). P84 Florence: “Isn’t Tom a Darling” – P86 Florence: “Yes, except Tom; he’s such a darling.”
Florence 2: (with Nicky). P91 Florence: “David’s so much happier in the country” – P92 Nicky: “Then she’ll adore you at once – probably too much – and I shall be jealous.”
Florence 3: (with Tom). P104 Tom: “Aren’t you coming, Florence?” – P106 Florence: “Oh, well, never mind, we’ll go some other night”.
Florence 4: (with Nicky). P128 Nicky: “I’m sorry Mother. I felt I had to talk to you alone” – P130 Florence: “Go to bed then, and we’ll talk everything over quietly another time.”
Nicky 1: (with David). P90 “Nicky – My Boy” – P91 “I’m so glad you’re home again, Nicky – don’t forget – come and talk…”
Nicky 2: (with Florence). P91 “David’s so much happier in the country” – P92 “Then she’ll adore you at once – probably too much – and I shall be jealous.”
Nicky 3: (with Bunty). P95 “Hallo, Elsa…” – P97 “It doesn’t matter – it probably only means we shan’t live so long”.
Nicky 4: (with Florence). P128 “I’m sorry Mother. I felt I had to talk to you alone” – P130 “Go to bed then, and we’ll talk everything over quietly another time.”
Clara: Helen’s section (with Florence). P84 Florence: “Isn’t Tom a Darling” – P86 “Yes, except Tom; he’s such a darling.”
David: (with Nicky). P90 David: “Nicky – My Boy” – P91 David: “I’m so glad you’re home again, Nicky – don’t forget – come and talk…”
Bunty: (with Nicky). P95 Nicky: “Hallo, Elsa…” – P97 Bunty: “It doesn’t matter – it probably only means we shan’t live so long”.
Tom: (with Florence). P104 Tom: “Aren’t you coming, Florence?” – P106 Florence: “Oh, well, never mind, we’ll go some other night”.
Helen 1: (with Pauncefoot). P75 Helen: “Give me a cigarette, Pawnie, they’re in the box on the table” – P77 Pauncefoot: “Such an exciting thing to be”.
Helen 2: (with Florence). P84 Florence: “Isn’t Tom a Darling” – P86 “Yes, except Tom; he’s such a darling.”
Pauncefoot: (with Helen). P75 Helen: “Give me a cigarette, Pawnie, they’re in the box on the table” – P77 Pauncefoot: “Such an exciting thing to be”.
Bruce: David’s section: P90 David: “Nicky – My Boy” – P91 David: “I’m so glad you’re home again, Nicky – don’t forget – come and talk…”
Preston: David’s section: P90 David: “Nicky – My Boy” – P91 David: “I’m so glad you’re home again, Nicky – don’t forget – come and talk…”
Please note:
Where there is more than one section for a character, that is more so that we have options depending on other auditionees who can be read against.
There is no expectation that any of the pieces are off-book! This isn’t a memory test!