I had always heard that Noel Coward's plays were shallow, if bright and sophisticated and witty congeries of social celebration
of the upper and upper middle classes. This play is so far from that stereotype, I marvel that that image of Mr. Coward's work ever came about. This play is a tragedy, with only the slimmest hope for redemption of the main characters. It is a complete condemnation of the superficial, bright, sparkly way of life the author has come to represent.
The play begins with a couple of
Florence Lancaster's
friends discussing her and her young lover as they wait for her return. Florence refuses to grow up (from their point of view) and be real. Her son Nicky, a talented pianist, has come home from Paris to introduce his fiancee to the family. It turns out that Florence's boyfriend (Tom Veryan) and her son's girlfriend (Bunty Mainwaring) were friends as children. They each break up with their respective lovers, and take off with each other. Then Nicky comes to talk with his mother. After Florence says it, her friend says basically the same thing. It is, in essence, an Intervention. Despite her resistance, he continues. They wind up being very real, although very unhappy. She promises to foreswear the taking of young lovers, and he promises to give up the drugs he has been taking.