Overview
Synopsis
In the stylish London flat of Julia and Frederick Sterroll in 1925, the play opens with the husbands, Frederick and William Banbury, departing for a golfing weekend, leaving their wives, Julia and Jane, to entertain themselves. Best friends Julia and Jane soon reveal a shared secret: both had passionate affairs with the charming Frenchman Maurice Duclos before their respective marriages—Julia's five years ago and Jane's seven. When postcards arrive from Maurice announcing his imminent arrival in London and his desire to see them, the women are thrown into a panic. Excited yet guilty about their lingering attraction, they debate fleeing to avoid temptation, packing suitcases in haste, only for the doorbell to ring just as they prepare to leave.
As the visitor turns out to be merely the plumber, Julia and Jane resolve to stay and face Maurice. Nervous anticipation leads them to excessive drinking—cocktails followed by champagne—as they reminisce about their romantic pasts. Old rivalries resurface, escalating into a heated quarrel over who Maurice truly loved more, with accusations flying and tempers flaring. By the end of the night, heavily intoxicated, Julia demands Jane leave the flat, convinced of her friend's superior claim on Maurice's affections.
The following morning brings hangovers and misunderstandings. Julia assumes Jane has eloped with Maurice and confesses everything to William upon the husbands' return; meanwhile, Jane, who spent the night alone in a hotel, suspects Julia has run off with him and tells Frederick. Maurice finally arrives, charming as ever, and attempts to dispel the chaos, revealing he has rented the flat upstairs. He invites the women to view it, leaving the husbands alarmed as romantic singing drifts down from above, prompting Fred and Willy to rush upstairs in pursuit.
Show Information
Context
Fallen Angels was written by Noël Coward in 1923, when he was just 24, during a period of postwar social upheaval in Britain. The Jazz Age brought shifting morals, particularly for women who had gained more independence during World War I, including access to contraception and greater social freedoms. Coward drew on French farcical traditions but infused them with British wit, exploring female desire, boredom in bourgeois marriage, and the double standards of sexuality in a way that
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ACT ONE
Fred Sterroll and his friend Willy Banbury have left London for a weekend of golf in the country, leaving their wives behind. With the men gone, Fred’s wife Julia sits down at the piano to practice. Their newly hired maid, Saunders—gifted with both a keen ear and a fearless manner—interrupts to point out Julia’s mistakes and promptly takes over the keyboard to demonstrate how the piece should be played.
At that exact moment, Willy’s wife Jane rushes in, flustered and agitated. She
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Character Portrayals
See StageAgent members who have performed roles in Fallen Angels.
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Themes, Symbols & Motifs
THEMES
Female Desire and Sexuality
Fallen Angels boldly centres female sexual desire at a time when such frank exploration was rare on the British stage. Julia and Jane's shared history with Maurice reveals their premarital passion as a vivid, cherished memory that contrasts sharply with their current restrained lives. The play treats their longing not as moral failing but as a natural response to emotional and physical stagnation, challenging the era's expectation that women
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Quizzes
Guide Written By:
Alexandra Appleton
Writer, editor and theatre researcher