The Grand Theatre Leeds – until 18 April 2026
Reviewed by Sal E Marino
5*****
At The Grand Theatre, Laura Wade’s sparkling reimagining of Somerset Maugham’s The Constant Wife proves that a century-old comedy of manners can still feel incisive, relevant, and utterly delightful.
Wade relocates us to the Roaring Twenties, a moment when the echoes of the suffragette movement still ripple through society and, in the aftermath of World War I, the first real shoots of female independence are beginning to emerge. It’s a world on the cusp of change—where women are starting to work, to think beyond domestic confines, and to quietly challenge the long-standing expectation that their sole purpose is to serve husband and family.
At the centre of it all is Constance Middleton, played with exquisite poise by Kara Tointon. She appears to have everything: a successful surgeon husband, a beautiful home, a child away at school, and—most intriguingly—a degree of personal freedom, including work and outings to the theatre with her old flame Bernard Kersal (Alex Mugnaioni). But Wade cleverly invites us to question this picture-perfect life. Is it luck? Or something far more calculated—a secret within a secret?
Tointon is perfectly cast as the “perfect wife”: beautiful, elegant, and utterly charming. Yet it is in contrast to those around her that she truly dazzles. Her husband John Middleton (Tim Delap) is deliciously insufferable—an arrogant, self-serving snob whose duplicity knows no bounds—while her best friend Marie-Louise Durham (Gloria Onitiri) is a wonderfully hapless and vapid “princess.” Their ghastliness only serves to make Constance shine brighter; we are drawn to her composure, her intelligence, and the quiet steel beneath her grace.
The supporting cast enrich this clash of old and new values. Sara Crowe as Mrs Culver, Constance’s mother, embodies a staunchly traditional view of marriage and love, while her other daughter Martha (Amy Vicary-Smith) acts as a sharp foil, voicing a more modern, feminist perspective. Their exchanges neatly capture a society in transition. Other supporting cast roles, Philip Rham as Bentley the butler and Jules Brown as Mortimer Durham play their parts solidly and add a further layer to the dramatic narrative.
Director Tamar Harvey crafts a wholly believable world of middle-class life, brought vividly to life by Anna Fleischle’s elegant Art Deco-inspired set. The atmosphere is further enriched by the smooth, evocative incidental jazz of Jamie Cullum, which drifts through the production and anchors it firmly in its era. Wade’s script, brimming with wit, draws beautifully on Maugham’s acid-tongued irony while sharpening its modern resonance.
Ultimately, The Constant Wife is exactly what it sets out to be: delightful. Delightful in its performances, its design, and its razor-sharp writing. And in that sense, it remains entirely faithful to Maugham’s own belief that “literature is an art and art is for delight.” A hundred years on, this production proves just how enduring—and how entertaining—that philosophy can be.