Review: The Vortex in Chichester offers brilliant showcase for real-life mother and son

A scintillating and prolonged final scene is the perfect showcase for real-life mother and son Lia Williams and Joshua James playing an on-stage mother and son in Daniel Raggett’s revival of Noël Coward’s first commercial success very nearly a century after it was first performed.

Superbly acted, it’s the scene that gives the play almost its entire emotional impact after a first two-thirds which leave you slightly underwhelmed by the piece’s deliberate triviality.