Magazine


Preview: The Vortex

by Elizabeth Kerfoot
12/ 1/2007

IS there anything Will Young can't turn his hand to?

He can't seem to put a foot wrong. Since winning 2002's Pop Idol he's notched up three platinum albums, become a Prince's Trust ambassador and received rave reviews for his big screen debut opposite Dame Judi Dench in Mrs Henderson Presents (2005).

From tonight Young sets up camp in Manchester to tread the boards for the first time, playing lead male Nicky Lancaster in a new adaptation of Noel Coward's The Vortex at the Royal Exchange. In fact, Nicky was a character Coward wrote for himself, playing him in early productions.

Expect a stylish tale of England in the 1920s. The post-war party is in full swing but appearances are not what they seem.

The enchanting Florence (Diana Hardcastle) is a sparkling beauty despite the approach of middle age. When her son Nicky returns from Paris with a secret, the veneer of charm and decadence begins to disintegrate as guilty truths bubble up.

Director Jo Combes believes this production is the first done of The Vortex "in the round" and she says: "I hope that the unique playing space of the Exchange will bring an immediacy and freshness to the play. Les Brotherston has created a wonderfully dynamic art deco setting for the production which I think will be a real highlight, too."

She adds: "It's been a delight to work with Will. He is a wonderful company member and a truly lovely guy. He has an innate onstage charm that works brilliantly for a Noel Coward play and he handles Nicky's mercurial character really well. He can be incredibly funny, which you also need in Nicky."

After its 1924 premiere, The Vortex created a notorious rumpus in London society with its brave depiction of the grisly darkness behind the hopeful dazzle of the Bright Young Things. Coward's career was launched by this story of the jazz generation dancing its way into a whirlwind of desire and deceit. And, if the play catapulted Coward's career upwards, just think what it could do for Young's.


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