As we have come to expect from The Shaw, this Canadian professional premiere of a Coward play demonstrates the definitive treatment of Britain's master of sharp repartee and elegant observer of high society. And what a society it was in 1925 when Coward, age 25, wrote Easy Virtue. The year before, Hay Fever made him a celebrity, and Easy Virtue was a natural follow-up. Like his contemporaries, Shaw and Granville-Barker, Coward tackled marital affairs and male-female relations. Unlike them however, he is not verbose. To make his incisive points, Coward uses 'terrrribly' witty lines -- often with a Wildean flavor -- delivered by characters living the 1920s high life - frolicsome and hedonistic while looking for love and loyalty. To wit: "Tennis, anyone?" Handsome John Whittaker has brought his elegant bride, the worldly Larita, home: a lavishly furnished country estate. Her secret reputation -- a woman of easy virtue -- has preceded her with mixed reactions from John's mother and two sisters. She meets them head on during the lavish party held in her honor. She's unlike anyone they have ever met -- glamorous yet intelligent, articulately responding to their ignorance and bile. "Love is the most dominant emotion in the world," she retorts in defense of her marriage.
The matronly mother and her two jealous daughters are initially awed, then offensed, nonplussed and eventually repentant. However, John's level-headed father, a retired colonel, is delighted with her. He is sympathetic to Larita's neglect by the self indulgent John, now home, dutifully married, but not the sophisticated and attentive man Larita thought she knew. Goldie Semple, a seven-year Festival veteran and national stage star, is magnificent as Larita. She and the fabulous set receive accolades at first sight, and Newton maintains his meticulous directorial care for every role and production detail.
