How easy is it to be virtuous? ‘Very’ says Noel Coward, that is assuming that your virtue comes with barrels of humbug and holier-than-thou halo-ness. ‘Easy Virtue’ is a lesser-known play from ‘The Master’ – not as successful as its more comedic contemporaries such as ‘Hay Fever’ written in the same year, 1925. The title cleverly masks a double meaning. To the snobby, Victorian-valued family of Whittakers, Larita, who has married into the stiff-necked upper crust is, as an older divorcee with a colourful past, is a lady of easy virtue. But of course their own hypocritical and outdated standards of virtue come ever so easily.

We are in a very familiar world – a gorgeously furnished drawing room, the inevitable French windows leading out to the equally predictable tennis court. It was all beautifully conceived on the Arts Theatre stage – a complex arrangement of doors, elegant seating and grand staircase.

Sir Trevor Nunn was the director of this new revival which will have a longish run at the Arts. This may not seem the natural choice for the legendary director but according to the programme he is a huge Coward fan and keen to see the forgotten gems come back to life. Apart from the principles, there was a large cast of ‘extras’ – ballroom guests, gardener, butler and neighbours all flitting in and out giving the often rather static text a sense of flapper-era dynamism. I can’t think of a collective noun for tuxedos but whatever the word, it would have been appropriate here.

The play concerns the unwelcome arrival of Larita, a former married good-time gal who has somehow married the younger John Whittaker, played with youthful innocence by Joseph Potter. This addition to the Whittaker family is more than the matriarch can bear. Mr. Whittaker, played with tearful fortitude by Greta Scacchi (yes, she) leads the family way in showering Larita with the iciest of receptions. Larita’s only ally is the father, Colonel Whittaker, a fine upstanding chap whose excesses in youth, we gather, has had to be tamed by the Mrs.

Adding to the tension, is John’s sister Marion, a cold, bible basher, who is well versed in off-the-peg moral putdowns. Then there is another sister, the dipsy teenager Hilda who is at first excited by the arrival of the worldly Larita into their cozy nest, but is soon disillusioned to learn that worldly experienced, especially in Paris, does not fit her romantic public-school dreams.

Larita superbly played by Alice Orr-Ewing as the tall, elegant and sophisiticated beauty whose metropolitan radiance threatens to singe the dour complacency of the Whittaker tribe. Coward’s bon mots and witty asides are there but as the play progresses, the mood darkens. Larita fights back but is constantly challenged by the sanctimonious Marion or the uber-shockable mother (who finds her daughter-in-law reading a copy of ‘Sodom and Gomorrah’ by Proust, Shameful!

This is a truly lavish production matching anything you would see on the West End. The performances are outstanding and the moments of social tension almost too hard to watch.

If I had a criticism, it is that characters have nowhere to go. Coward is so keen to unmask the cold prissiness of the English upper set, that he forgets to let his cast go anywhere different. Mother is always shocked mother, Hilda always in a strop, Marion always preaching to the unconvertible and Larita, refusing to play the game of ‘county decency’.

That said, this is a deeply satisfying evening in the theatre, it’s a privilege to see this 100-year-old drama brought to vivid life. ‘Easy Virtue’ has the virtue of being a wonderful evening in the theatre. A bit dated, yes, but still a play with a point to make for our time too. Virtue isn’t easy at all.

:The Arts Theatre Cambridge, 6 St Edward’s Passage, Cambridge, CB2 3PJ

Dates: Thu 19 Feb – Sat 7 Mar 2026

Performance schedule and ticket price:

Mon – Sat 7.30pm

Thu & Sat 2.30pm

No performance: Sun 29 Feb

Box Office: 01223 503333 / www.artstheatre.co.uk

Photo credit: Richard Hubert Smith.