”The Circle” at Orange Tree Theatre review – an exceptional cast of stage stalwarts in action

Maugham’s comedy was quite the shocker in its day with its talk of divorce and adultery. Today it seems marginally less scandalous, but it is interesting to see the cynicism with which Maugham treats the subject of relationships. Teddy, the young suitor to the glamourous but ultimately unhappily married Elizabeth says, he “does not promise happiness, but love” – Maugham is very clear that the two do not necessarily go hand in hand – there is no wide-eyed romanticism here!

Arnold’s mother, Lady Kitty, abandoned him and his father at the age of three in order to run off with her lover, Lord Porteus. Escaping the country, they sacrifice all for their union: She, her society reputation, and He – now a disgraced MP – his career and a possible run for Prime Minister. Upon return, some 30 years later, they seem weary of love and are often savagely unpleasant to one another as they poke and torment. They are nonetheless committed to each other and as Lady Kitty watches the wife of her abandoned son break his heart, it is to Elizabeth that she lends her backing, in support of passion over marriage – thus the circle of the title.

Jane Asher brings her haughty Lady Kitty to life with an overbearing and prickly elegance. Hiding behind a veneer of lipstick, her ex-husband talks of her “soul being as thickly rouged as her face”. Asher loftily wafts insincere platitudes and grandiose mannerisms that all expertly mask Lady Kitty’s damaged reputation and inept maternal feelings. As her son, Arnold, Pete Ashmore is tightly wound and overwrought with nervous energy, making Arnold a simple and emotionally mangled young man having lived without his mother for 30 years. Olivia Vinall’s Elizabeth is straightforward and in need of something more. Vinall displays a captivating warmth of character even as she plots to leave her husband in a flight of passion with Chirag Benedict Lobo’s dashingly handsome and breezy, Teddy.

Clive Francis and Nicholas Le Prevost steal the show as the competing men in Kitty’s life. Francis is the man abandoned by his wife 30 years previous, Le Prevost is the man that took her from him. Former friends, they now circle one another with suspicion and gentlemanly disdain. The simmering rivalry between them is always kept to a civilised patter but it is thrilling to watch in the hands of these two consummate performers. Francis has such a mischievous twinkle in his eye that it disarms any sharp words that he utters, whilst Le Prevost cantankerously huffs and harrumphs as he growls in irritated bewilderment at everything. They are a comic treat.

There are some dated attitudes to women in Maugham’s work – their dependency on men being the most obvious – but there is also an undertone of empowerment that is worthy of a fresh look at a play that once caused such scandal. Maugham’s own sexuality and unhappiness is certainly felt within his work and is perhaps the reason for his cynicism of relationships. But there is still a belief in love and the need to keep it alive, as his says “the tragedy of love – indifference”.