Earlier this week we were really delighted to get tickets for Somerset Maugham's The Constant Wife at the RSC in Stratford-upon-Avon. The play is a sell-out, probably due to Rose Leslie in the role of Constance Middleton "the constant wife" of the play's title, and we almost missed out on seeing the play.
When I spotted the production I was delighted that the RSC was putting on a new production of a Somerst Maugham's play. It has always seemed strange to me that, whilst plays by his contemporaries Oscar Wilde and Terence Rattigan are regularly performed, Somerset Maugham's work has mostly fallen out of favour. This just seems so wrong as he's so witty and urbane, and his work stands up well in comparison with many of his contemporaries.
Rose Leslie was excellent in the lead role, but the whole cast was really strong. The play, a witty comedy of manners, was certainly safe in their accomplished hands.
In Maugham’s play, 36-year-old Constance responds to her surgeon-husband John’s affair with her best friend, Marie-Louise, by gaining economic independence through her new career as an interior decorator. The themes of adultery, economic independence, female emancipation and hypocrisy feel as fresh today as they did almost one hundred years ago.
We throroughly enjoyed the evening and were really glad that we made the effort to get tickets and make the journey to Stratford-upon-Avon.