It focuses on an ageing beauty who uses affairs with younger men to keep her feeling relevant, and her son (originally played by Coward himself) who is back from Paris after a year performing as a pianist and acquiring a cocaine habit. Set in the effervescent world of the socialite set, with plenty of the wit and charm that Coward is known for, The Vortex is, nonetheless, a powerful depiction of people who struggle to be completely honest with themselves.