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W. Somerset Maugham's most popular comedy, The Circle, a wise and witty satire concerning marriage, infidelity, and the battle between passion and practicality. First produced in 1921 and in 1998 named among the 100 most significant plays of the 20th century in a National Theatre poll, The Circle captures the poise of high society in the 1920s. Thirty years before, the fresh-faced and vivacious Lady Kitty abandoned both her politician husband and her young son Arnold for a scandalous life with her husband's best friend, Lord Porteous. Three decades later, the still vivacious though not as fresh-faced Kitty returns to confront the family she long-ago abandoned, and a new scandal when a charming houseguest threatens to take Arnold's own wife, Elizabeth, from him. Will the new couple be influenced by Kitty's wicked example? Or will practicality trump passion once and for all?
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