Julia Lambert is in her prime, the greatest actress in England.On stage she is a true professional, in full possession of her emotions.Off stage, however, she is bored with her husband, less disciplined about her behaviour.She is at first amused by the attentions of a shy but ambitious young fan, then thrilled by his persistence - and at last wildly but dangerously in love Although Maugham is most celebrated as a novelist and short-story writer, it was as a playwright that he first knew success.Theatre is both a tribute to a world from which he had retired and a persuasive testimony to his enthusiasm for drama and the stage.