It is easily forgotten that in his time, Somerset Maugham was the most celebrated living writer in English, thanks in large part to his scrupulous and unscrupulous depiction of infidelity among the upper classes.
The Constant Wife, premièred in 1927, was among his greatest hits, with leading actresses from Ethel Barrymore to Ingrid Bergman relishing the role of Constance Middleton, who, on discovering her Harley Street surgeon husband’s affair with her best friend, decides not to leave him but to pursue her own independent life.
Society dramas no longer dominate the stage, but Maugham’s mordant wit and proto-feminist critique still resonate today, which is why Laura Wade was commissioned to reinterpret the piece for a modern audience. The major difference in her version is that we know from an early stage that Constance is aware of husband John’s betrayal, the more to act out a longer forced insouciance to what has been going on.
The result, while preserving the linguistic style of the period—preservation of the word ‘ripping’ being de rigueur for such purposes—turns Maugham’s elegant comedy into craftily condensed farce, with a laugh in every other line as liars and dissemblers circle around the truth.
The plot sags a little in the second half as Constance soliloquises about the absurdity of men, but soon recovers its pace thanks to the richness of characterisation and stirring performances, led by Rose Leslie in the ironic title role.
There is something Shavian in Constance’s inconstant contrariness—feeling tired of having nothing to do other than order husband John’s life, yet wearing a put-on smile of cheeriness, that breaks down only in the assuredly private presence of a servant.
Luke Norris is the cocky hypocrite of a husband whose outbursts of rage at being done unto are wildly entertaining, and few could not warm to Raj Bajaj as Constance’s adoring lapdog of a hopeless admirer.
With brilliant drollery, Kate Burton almost steals the show as Constance’s mother. Worldly, in a Lady Bracknell sort of way, she advises her daughter: "be careful over what you choose to know," advice more suited to her own generation however than that of its recipient.
Immediately after the interval, Wade mischievously gives Constance’s sister Martha a long résumé of the past goings-on, wonderfully delivered by Amy Morgan. Never has the single word ‘whereupon’ elicited so much laughter.
Emma McDonald is John’s slinky lover, Marie-Louise, all luxurious silky outfits to contrast with Martha and Constance in sensible shoes, and Mark Meadows her rich, dupable, tradesman husband, shocked by behaviour that would get a man "thrown out of every pub in Oldham."
Finally, there is something preserved of Maugham himself in the character of the secretly homosexual butler Bentley, played by Mark Meadows, who glides in and out with a smoothness worthy of his character’s name, and who says little and observes a lot.
Anna Fleischle’s daring designs and Jamie Cullum’s music, ranging from 1930s ballroom to modern abstraction, perfectly complement the feeling of the piece, and thanks to director Tamara Harvey, the laughter keeps rolling.