The Vortex: A Play in Three Acts

by Noël Coward

"The Vortex: A Play in Three Acts" by Noël Coward is a play written in 1924. Set in post-World War I British high society, it explores the sexual vanity of an aging socialite and her complicated relationship with her adult son. The play depicts drug abuse and includes what critics view as coded references to homosexuality, then illegal in Britain. Its scandalous content made it Coward's first major commercial success, though it barely survived official censorship before its November 1924 premiere in London.