Theatre and Dance Reviews

I think that The Importance of Being Earnest is one of my favourite comedies of all time. The word play and turn of phrase shows Oscar Wilde at his best - it sometimes seems like every phrase is a famous quote (e.g. "To lose one parent may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness.").

In fact, Lady Bracknell's "handbag line" has become one of the most infamous of all time - mainly down to Edith Evans' delivery both on stage and in the 1952 film.

The plot is complex - but extremely well crafted.

Algernon Moncrieff (Jim Alexander) and Jack Worthing (Tom Butcher) discover they have both been leading dual lives.

Jim Alexander: The Importance of Being Earnest

Jack lives in the country with his pretty ward Cecily Cardew (Zoie Kennedy), but in London he is known only as Earnest and is head over heels in love with Gwendolen Fairfax (Corinne Wicks). Miss Fairfax’s cousin is Algernon, who, also under the pseudonym of Earnest, goes to the country and in turn falls passionately in love with Jack’s ward Cecily... Confused yet?!

So there are two bachelors named Earnest, who aren’t - and two beautiful girls who are in love with Earnests - but who aren’t, not until two Christenings can be arranged that is! But in the end, the aforementioned handbag plays Cupid and .... well you'll have to go and see how it all turns out!

Satire

And the beauty of this play is that while it is very funny, there is so much more going on underneath. It has variously been described as a comedy of manners, a critique of marriage, a pop at the idleness and snobbery of the leisured classes at the time and a good natured farce.

But in my book it is a scathing social satire, the dual lives of the lead characters exposing Victorian hypocrisy, where the primness on the surface of polite society hid all sorts of goings on underneath, and it also seems to represent Wilde's own dual life as a gay man trying to live in a society which wouldn't accept that. In short, I think it is quite brilliant!

This production didn't disappoint me. But to be honest, it rarely can. The words do it all for me so as long as I can hear the actors saying them, and they say them in a way which capture the feeling of the time (or what we perceive it to be anyway) I'm pretty happy.

The four young lovers captured our idea of Victorian manners and courtship very well, I just sometimes felt they needed a little more pace at times. But I especially enjoyed Jim Alexander's Algernon Moncrieff which had subtle shades of a leering Rik Mayall at times (although subtle is a term that you wouldn't normally apply to Mayall!) and he completely dispelled my vision of him as Jamie Parker in Sky One's Dream Team forever. He's certainly a versatile actor!

Timing

Tony Britton was a lovely Reverend Chasuable, the vicar who is asked to arrange the various christenings. That comic timing we've all known and loved is still there and at 83 there is still a sparkle in his eye as he makes the most of this eccentric character. And Pat Mackie was a suitably coquettish Miss Prism who complemented him perfectly and together, they made the hints of romance seem rather charming.

Fleur Chandler was a formidable Lady Bracknell with many hard acts to follow. Penelope Keith, Wendy Craig and Dame Maggie Smith have been outstanding in the
role in recent years and of course it was Edith Evans that made the handbag line into such a key theatrical moment. So how do you tackle it after that? We all waited with baited breath and got a unique approach. It was actually Jack who said it, as she was so shocked that she mouthed the word and wasn't actually able to blurt it out! A good move!

Special mention must also go to George Telfer who played both butlers, Merriman and Lane, and at times stole the scenes, without even saying a word. The uncontrollable shaking of one hand as country butler Merriman serving the tea brought a spontaneous round of applause from the audience!

I would go as far as to say that this play is one of the greatest comedies in the English language and a marvellous antidote to the somewhat de-based language of today's text message culture. This is a very presentable production of it and a good evening out.