Page 1 of 9

High Society

Welcome to this audio introduction to the Old Vic’s production of High Society, with

music and lyrics by Cole Porter and book by Arthur Kopit. The director is Maria

Friedman.

  The audio described performance will take place on Tuesday the 14th of July at 7.30

pm with a touch tour at 6.00 pm. The performance lasts approximately 2 hours and

45 minutes, including a 20 minute interval, and your describers are Yinka Ekundayo

and Roz Chalmers.

  Please meet in the foyer for the touch tour. Touch Tours are completely free and

last about 20 minutes. They give you an opportunity to explore the set and handle

some of the props. There will also be an opportunity to meet some members of the

cast and the production team who bring the play to the stage. It is essential to book,

so please call 020 7981 0981 to reserve your place. If you’re coming to the tour on

your own we can arrange for a member of staff to accompany you. Please also let

the box office know if you'd like to bring your guide dog into the auditorium and we

will try to offer an aisle seat if one is available. The Front of House staff will be happy

to take care of your dog during the performance if you would prefer.

  At 7.15, fifteen minutes before the performance starts we will repeat an edited

version of this introduction live, so that you can listen to it through the headsets in

the auditorium. We will be able to give you an update if there have been any last

minute changes to the production, and this will also give you an opportunity to

familiarise yourself with the headset controls.

Set, characters, cast and production credits

For this production of High Society the theatre’s proscenium arch and stage have

disappeared. Instead, the acting area is a low circular platform about six metres in

diameter. It’s surrounded by the audience in banks of seats. Four walkways lead

onto the platform, two at the front and two at the rear. At times, characters arrive

through the central aisle of the auditorium or linger there, watching others.

Page 2 of 9

The play is set in 1958 and takes place in the Art Deco-style waterfront home of the

Lords, a wealthy Long Island family, and in the equally tasteful neighbouring home of

their Uncle Willie. There are 10 main characters and 11 minor ones.

The circular floor is painted a pale grey-green and stippled with silver. Etched into its

surface are elegant curves and lines in gold. Hanging above the stage to the left and

right are two curved balconies with slender chrome railings housing the twelve

musicians. They’re all smartly dressed in black suits and white shirts with black bow

ties. Their musical director Theo Jamieson is tall and slim with a mop of curly

brown hair. He wears a large pink carnation in his lapel and climbs up a wooden

ladder from stage level to reach his podium. As we take our seats, a grand piano

stands to the left, side on to us. It’s painted in the same grey-green and silver as the

floor. The lid is open and there’s sheet music on the music rest. A chrome piano

stool on a single stalk stands in front of the keyboard.

It’s the eve of a high society wedding and members of the Lords’ staff come and go

with various decorations for the event. The five young footmen are dressed in black

morning suits with white shirts and a bow tie. The four housemaids wear white frilly

aprons over a short-sleeved black dress which ends just above the knee. Their

uniforms are completed with starched white caps with black trim matching their

collars and sleeves. One little brunette, Cindy, is playful and flirtatious. When she

dances she always contrives to show a little more leg than is strictly necessary.

The staff are directed by the Lord’s butler and housekeeper. The butler, Chester, is

in portly, dignified middle age, with a calm, round face and oiled-back greying hair.

His black tailcoat has gold stripes on the cuffs and gold buttons, his white shirt has a

wing collar and his grey pinstripe trousers have a knife-edge crease.

He wears pristine white gloves. Chester has an air of having seen it all before.

Nothing ruffles his composure.

Mavis, the housekeeper, is in her mid-fifties, comfortably rounded with auburn hair

neatly smoothed back in a low bun. She has a firm hold on her staff, but there’s a

Page 3 of 9

roguish twinkle in her eye. Mavis wears a black dress with a pintucked bodice and

crisp white collar and cuffs.

A young society pianist, Joey Powell strolls in, carrying his sheet music in a dark

brown briefcase. His fair hair is slicked back from a high forehead into a quiff, and his

face is sharp featured but friendly. Joey wears a cream and brown check sports

jacket with a blue handkerchief in the top pocket. He has a grey striped open necked

shirt and grey slacks and finishes off the look with brown brogues.

Joey leaves, the piano sinks down into the floor and we meet the female members of

the Lord family.

Darting between the busy staff is the youngest member – she’s Dinah, fourteen

years old and a bundle of tomboyish energy. Dinah is all set to be a beauty, with her

pale skin, big blue eyes and vivid auburn hair tied in two long pigtails. She’s dressed

in a green and red checked shirt and blue jeans with scarlet sneakers.

Her older sister, Tracy, is in her late twenties, elegant but rather severe, with a finely

sculpted, high cheekboned face and slanting, frosty blue eyes. Her shoulder length

chestnut hair is coiffured into soft curls. Tracy arrives wearing a lovat green tweed

jacket, cream jodhpurs and long brown riding boots. On her head is a jaunty little

brown hat and a brace of rabbits is slung over her shoulder. She soon changes into

a yellow gingham halter neck top, turquoise ¾ length trousers and red wedge-soled

sandals.

Mother Lord is a handsome middle-aged woman with perceptive brown eyes and a

warm smile. Her fading auburn hair is pinned up in high curls, with a few left loose to

frame her face. At breakfast she wears a lime-green cardigan over a pink and white

shirt with green linen trousers and rope-soled wedge sandals.

Mother Lord wears chunky jade-green statement jewellery; necklace, bracelets and

earrings. Her nails are polished with scarlet. She’s informal with her staff and

tolerant of her family’s idiosyncrasies.

Page 4 of 9

We move to the veranda where breakfast is being served. A grey-green and silver

circular table rises out of the floor at the rear, a cream cloth is whisked out of its

centre to cover its surface and staff bring four wicker chairs, a coffee service, plates

and bowls of fruit. A yellow and white striped parasol stands in the centre of the

table to protect the Lords from the bright morning sun. Staff serve bacon and eggs

from hotplates on a slim Art-Deco style breakfast bar on the left. It’s hip-height,

curved in a gentle C-shape, with a ridged chrome base and black surface. Two

chrome and wicker stools stand in front.

Uncle Willie trots in. He’s a short sprightly man in his sixties, not too old to have a

roving eye. Uncle Willie has a full white beard and a florid complexion, probably due

to the contents of his hip flask. He squints through black-rimmed glasses and wears

a white panama hat. At breakfast he’s dapper in a grey short sleeved shirt with beige

trousers, and a dark red scarf around his neck.

Tracy's ex-husband Dexter turns up unexpectedly and joins the family for breakfast.

He’s tall, athletic and easy-going, with a strong jawline and windswept light brown

hair under a blue peaked yachting cap. His skin has a healthy tan and his watches

his ex-wife with a quizzically raised eyebrow. Dexter wears a blue windcheater over

a light blue shirt, ankle length white linen trousers and blue deckshoes worn without

socks. His sunglasses are tucked casually into the front of his shirt.

The table sinks away into the floor and the action takes us to the Gallery. It’s a

shrine to mid-20th century art and design.

Two black leather and chrome Wassily [ VASS-ily ] chairs stand side by side at the

rear, their seats facing us and sloping sharply backwards. A round coffee table is in

front of them holding a scarlet and gold Fabergé egg and a rough lump of gold the

size of a fist. Side on to us at the front of the space is another black leather and

chrome design classic, a Le Corbusier lounger, a simple undulated shape with a

padded leather roll as a headrest.

On opposite sides of the room are waist-high rectangular chrome plinths. The one

on the left holds a Barbara Hepworth sculpture, three-quarters of a metre high, an

Page 5 of 9

egg-shaped piece of smooth dark grey bronze. The centre is scooped out and has

acquired a pale green patina. An oval hole in the back of the sculpture is criss-

crossed by delicate golden threads. On the plinth on the right are two small stylised

bronze figures by the Swiss sculptor Alberto Giacometti. Half a metre high, their

limbs are elongated and their bodies stretched and impossibly slender, their heads

tiny, their surfaces appearing rough and eroded.

A ridged chrome sideboard on the left hand edge of the room holds a number of

treasures including a glittering diamond necklace displayed in a blue velvet lined

box, a sparkling tiara, a little gold statue of a man, peacock feathers and a mink

stole, tossed carelessly aside.

Two reporters for a gossip magazine arrive to cover the wedding. Liz Imbrie is slim

but shapely with jaw-length softly waving honey-blonde hair that provides a striking

contrast to her deep brown eyes. Her face is heart-shaped and her mouth is sweet.

She’s in her mid-twenties and carries a camera around her neck, snapping pictures

of the family and the house for her magazine. Liz wears a smart black and white

speckled suit, nipped in at the waist, with a sweetheart collar. Her small black hat

has a matching bow. Her colleague, Mike Connor, admits to the age of thirty-five

and has made less of an effort to blend in. He has fair hair slicked back from a

scowling, sulky face. He slouches into the room and throws himself into a chair.

Mike is in a rumpled grey jacket over lighter grey trouser. His singlet is visible under

a blue and white checked shirt and he keeps his brown trilby hat on indoors. Mike

smokes often, and drinks with relish.

The Lord’s pavilion is suggested by a circular white plastic table with four matching

chairs. The sounds of a game of tennis are heard and Tracy’s fiancé George Kittredge bounds in, slightly breathless, from the unseen court. George is in his

forties, tall, slim and gloriously tanned with a classically handsome smooth-skinned

face. He has short, thick silver hair and wears tortoiseshell-framed glasses. He’s in

tennis whites – a shirt and shorts with a sweater thrown round his shoulders, and he

swings a wooden racquet. George’s expression is frequently one of total

bewilderment.

Page 6 of 9

Finally we meet Seth Lord, father to Tracy and Dinah, and husband to Mother Lord.

He’s a straight backed man in a formal grey suit, even in the heat of the day. Seth is

in his sixties with neat iron grey hair. His face is long, creased with fine lines and he

has the same high cheekbones as his daughter Tracy. His mouth is set in a firm,

unsmiling line.

Later, three blue-cushioned loungers are placed side by side with carefully folded

white towels at their foot ends. They stand by the Lords’ swimming pool. It’s

represented by rippling light on the ground. When someone dips a finger into it, the

ripples spread across the surface. A waiter serves colourful cocktails from a bar on

the left.

In the second half of the play we move to the ballroom of Uncle Willie’s nearby

mansion. Above hang strings of golden lightbulbs and twelve lightshades in pastel

colours, pale blue, pink, yellow, white and lilac. They’re all different shapes,

cylinders, circles, some patterned like petals and one cut into scales like a pineapple.

From an empty dance floor, the piano rises up again, along with a low circular plinth

at the rear, and two rectangular ones, on the left and right, lit from within by an

amber light. Young people join the party, smartly dressed in formal evening wear.

The men wear crisp white dress shirts with black bowties, braces and cummerbunds

over smart black trousers. The women are like colourful butterflies in green, blue,

orange and yellow party dresses with full skirts made of layers of floating organza.

They wear matching elbow length gloves and their hair is left long and loose.

The lighting in High Society takes us to different times of the day, from bright

morning sunlight to the cool blue of moonlight. The garden of the Lord’s home is

washed with a lush green, while Uncle Willie’s garden at night is lit by tawny-gold

lanterns. A firework display at the beginning of Act 2 brings a zinging kaleidoscope

of orange, scarlet and blue accompanied by loud bangs, and a dancefloor captures

the dancers’ shadows in multiple shades of pink and aquamarine.

Page 7 of 9

Cast and production credits

Tracy Lord is played by Kate Fleetwood

Her sister, Dinah Lord by Ellie Bamber

Mother Lord is played by Barbara Flynn and her husband, Seth, by Christopher

Ravenscroft

Uncle Willie is played by Jeff Rawle

Tracy's fiancé, George Kittredge is played by Richard Grieve and her ex-husband,

CK Dexter Haven, by Rupert Young

The journalists are Mike Connor, played by Jamie Parker, and Liz Imbrie, played by

Annabel Scholey

The society pianist, Joey Powell, is played by Joe Stilgoe

The staff are led by the butler, Chester, played by Paul Kemble, and the

housekeeper, Mavis, played by Ricky Butt

The housemaids are played by Claire Doyle, Sammy Kelly, Katharine Pearson and

Philipa Stefani

The footmen are played by John Brannoch, Omari Douglas, Chris Ellis-Stanton,

Leon Kay and Zak Nemorin

The Designer is Tom Pye

The Choreographer is Nathan M Wright

Musical Director, Theo Jamieson

Orchestrator & Dance Arranger, Chris Walker

Lighting, Peter Mumford

Sound, Simon Baker

Video. Finn Ross

Page 8 of 9

High Society has been directed by Maria Friedman

Track 3: An article from the programme

In the printed programme, members of the High Society creative team talk about the

production’s design, music and movement.

Tom Pye, the designer explains how the set reflects the personality of the Lord

family.

“We like to think of the Lords as ahead of their time and terribly chic. So while there

is an Art Deco feel to Seth Lord's home, the set contains some lovely mid-20th

century pieces too. From replicas of Bauhaus furniture to Barbara Hepworth and

Giacometti sculptures, the contemporary décor playfully suggests this family is very

much in touch with the best European designers.”

Chris Walker the orchestrator and dance arranger talks about producing the

orchestration and the role of society pianist, Joey Powell.

“Our production of High Society is set in 1958, the same period that rock n’ roll is

taking off, so we’ve introduced a little more swing than has previously been

associated with the musical. All the Cole Porter songs are there – we’ve not

monkeyed around with Mr Porter – but there’s a little more syncopation than might

be expected. Our extraordinary jazz pianist, Joe Stilgoe, fits into the production’s

setting like a glove. His character, Joey Powell, performs a function not dissimilar to

Louis Armstrong in the movie. Listen out for the incredible piano duel he has with

our musical director Theo Jamieson at the beginning of Act 2.”

The choreographer, Nathan M Wright describes the benefits of the set design on his

work. “The 360 degree aspect opens up the action to every single member of the

audience. There’s added textures that you can bring to the dances because you can

be more daring with patterns, shapes and steps, whether it be a classic lift or a

beautiful slow dance. For the opening of Act 2 I’ve sought to inject the choreography

with decadence and energy – as our characters become more inebriated the

Page 9 of 9

movement becomes looser and more exaggerated until we reach our climax. It

could tempt audiences to join in!”

  Track 4: Our next audio described performanceOur next audio described performance is Future Conditional, a bracingly topical

and boisterously funny new play directed by Matthew Warchus and starring Rob Brydon, with a cast of 23 young performers.

Future Conditional tackles the conundrum of British schooling through a myriad of

characters including parents, teachers, and Alia, a prodigiously clever young Afghan

refugee and the newest member of Britain’s Education Research Board. Alia has a

radical solution for Britain’s schools that could restore our place in the world

education league. But is the system ready to take lessons from a schoolgirl?

Written by acclaimed playwright Tamsin Oglesby, Future Conditional proves that

when it comes to education, we’ve all got a lot to learn.

The Audio Described Performance will be on Friday the 25th of September at 7.30

pm, with a touch tour at 6.00 pm.

That’s the end of this introduction. This introduction has been written by Yinka

Ekundayo and Roz Chalmers and recorded by Roz Chalmers for Eyewitness.