Chaos, Champagne and Coward
If you are looking for a theatrical Christmas treat that’s both fun and sophisticated then Noël Coward’s Fallen Angels at the Menier Chocolate Factory could be for you, writes Katie Kelly.
Set in the 1920s, the play follows two long-time friends whose comfortable but staid marriages are suddenly unsettled by a postcard from their former mutual lover Maurice Duclos — indicating his imminent arrival.
Janie Dee and Alexandra Gilbreath are superb as fiery friends Julia and Jane. At first, they try to flee the attractive Frenchman but “virtue is far easier to maintain before temptation sends a postcard.” So they settle into a drunken evening of waiting and contemplating the unthinkable. Will they betray their nice but predictable husbands and each other? A long, inebriated night stretches their friendship to breaking point with much hilarity along the way.
This play is a joyous romp with an exquisite set and beautiful costumes. It is a feast for the eyes and tonic for the weary pre-Christmas soul. If the two non-pantomime dames weren’t enough already enough fun, the icing on the cake comes in the form of maid Saunders. A precursor to Nessa from ‘Gavin and Stacey’, Saunders constantly upstages her employers with her skills and stories. A concert pianist, former Ballet Russes dancer and golfing expert, she knows she is wasted in the kitchen. The choreography of the whole play is tight, but Saunders gets the best of it and dazzles as she dances.
When ‘Fallen Angels’ premiered its scandal lay in the idea of two women having ‘sown their wild oats’ before marriage. A century on the transgression feels different. It’s not the impropriety but the vitality — the frank desire, the refusal to retreat into matronly invisibility — that feels quietly radical.
Menier Chocolate Factory until 21st February.
Booking and full details: https://www.menierchocolatefactory.com/tickets/fallen-angels/
