The Old Hamptonians' Amateur Dramatic Society's production of the Nol Coward play Fallen Angels' at the Hampton Hill Playhouse recently was a very stylish affair.

Set in London it was first performed in the mid-1920s and was regarded as shocking at that time. An ensemble piece, the story concerns two happily married couples whose marriages have, after five years, settled into routine and lost some of their previous passion.

While the husbands are off together on a golfing weekend, the wives plan to spend the time together. They each receive notification that a Franchman with whom they both had a love affair before they married, is coming to London to see them.

They feel great excitement mixed with dread that they will be unable to resist him.

The core of the play is the scene when the two very accomplished actresses playing the close friends get drunk and quarrel over how to deal with the situation. Bravura performances, with excellent diction by Julie Davies as Jane and Tracy Frankson as Julia brought out the wit in Coward's acerbic lines.

Able support was given by Steve Taylor and Glenn Granger as the golfing husbands, Fred and Willy. Kirsty Smith was the know-all maid, Saunders, and John Bellamy the suave Maurice.

Recordings of Nol Coward performing his own songs added atmosphere. Elaborate floral decorations and the beautiful haute couture dresses worn by the ladies in Act II added elegance to the production.

Director John Roth is to be thanked and congratulated on his sensitive evocation of the period in which the play was set and the realisation achieved of the bitter sweetness of Coward's writing in his portrayal of human relationships.

Joy Manners