Brand New Cape Town City Ballet Presentation Based on Noël Coward's THE VORTEX for Theatre On The Bay

Cape Town City Ballet will present Marc Goldberg's adaptation of Noël Coward's first great commercial success, THE VORTEX, at Theatre on the Bay at the end of July 2015. As in the original play, Goldberg's adaptation will explore the themes of adultery, aging, drug use and dysfunctional family dynamics against the backdrop of 1920s high society, translating Coward's loaded prose into a movement vocabulary that creates a slick and stylized perspective on the fascinating character dynamics presented in the original play.

THE VORTEX takes place over the course of a weekend in the country home of David (Xola Putye/Bradley van Heerden) and Florence (Laura Bosenberg/Claire Spector/Kim Vieira) Lancaster. Florence's son, Nicky (Thomas Thorne/Jesse Milligan), and his new fiancé, Bunty (Sarah-Lee Chapman/Elizabeth Nienaber), arrive from Paris, along with growing suspicions that Nicky is harbouring a dark secret. Florence herself harbours an obsession with youth and beauty that is displayed in her constant affairs with much younger men, her current lover being the dashing Tom (Ivan Boonzaaier/Daniel Sybokovsky), one of her son's school friends, who he is proving to be a greater challenge than anticipated. Tensions boil and culminate in an explosion that irrevocably changes the lives of those involved.
THE VORTEX aims to create a varied and sometimes chilling canvas of the human experience, framed by Coward's depiction of the era's glamour, frivolity and opulence.

Choreographer Goldberg says, "When I originally read THE VORTEX, I was very aware of how relevant the themes Mr Coward was illustrating still were, despite the colloquialisms and delivery derived in the period it was written. I found myself seduced by the challenge of finding a style in composing a ballet adaptation that both would bring the play's relevance into the current era but maintain Mr Coward's legacy. I understood that the intense character dynamics would translate easily and be very enjoyable to convey in dance, and it became a focus for me to isolate the emotions he was depicting to create the essence of the movements in the ballet."

Musically, THE VORTEX will juxtapose Noël Coward's live recordings of songs like 'Poor Little Rich Girl', 'I Went to a Marvellous Party' and 'Mad about the Boy' with Mexican electronic composer Murcof's atmospheric and sophisticated stylings. "I was very drawn to the concept of translating Mr. Cowards heavy use of subtext and style of prose into movement and therefore the idea of juxtaposing composers surfaced," says Goldberg. "I felt that, in the play, it often was not what was being said that was as revealing as what was not. I therefore wanted to create two choreographic and musical styles; one that kept us mindful of the period yet opened us up to the reality of what these characters might have truly been experiencing."

The two-act ballet will open at Theatre on the Bay on 29 July, running until 8 August, with performances from Tuesdays through Saturdays at 8pm, with an additional Saturday matinee at 3pm. Tickets are available from the Theatre on the Bay's box office (021 438 3300) or Computicket (0861 915 8000).

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