4 STARS, Jan 31 – Feb 3. A sparkling cast do a great job with Wilde’s over familiar classic, says Alice Cairns
Kerry Ellis as Gwendolen and Peter Sandys-Clarke as Jack
The Importance of Being Earnest is a perfect, self-contained little masterpiece with evergreen appeal. It’s almost guaranteed to draw in a crowd, and to keep them laughing until the curtain closes. In the 1920s, Arnold Bennett wrote that The Importance of Being Earnest lacked ‘the materials of permanence’. I bet he feels silly now.
But there’s a price to pay for this crowd-pleasing magic. Let’s spare a thought for theatre companies who want to put their own stamp on Wilde’s masterpiece. The task is nigh on impossible. They can’t cut it, or add to it, or set it in a different time period. Imagine a production set in the modern day – it’s unthinkable! There’s no room for error – fluffing a line or improvising a little isn’t an option. An audience knows what to expect, and what they expect is a group of actors dutifully going through the motions – spouting the familiar epigrams, scoffing the cucumber sandwiches, and crying ‘a haaaaandbag?’ in sufficiently scandalized tone. Probably the most memorable change to the formula in recent years was the 2015 production, when David Suchet appeared as Lady Bracknell.
This production at the Yvonne Arnaud gives us exactly what we expect – and it is, of course, a delight. The set is beautiful – a wooden, Art Deco style framework at the back of the stage is accessorized with props to become three distinct locations. Lush greenery turns the space into a kind of countryside conservatory, a jumble of chairs and ornaments creates Algernon’s exceptionally smoky bachelor pad, and a wall of bookcases creates the library in which the tangle of misunderstandings is finally unraveled. Each act began with a tableau – of a servant smoking, or Cecily watering the roses. The whole thing is a feast for the eyes.
Gwen Taylor as Lady Bracknell
Thomas Howes steals the show as Algernon. It’s a hard role – in the wrong hands, Algie can become a greedy bore who recites witticisms by rote. But Howes is brilliant, giving the impression that the well-worn aphorisms are really occurring to him as he speaks. It’s a very fun, understated performance – he lounges across the stage, munching on baked goods, radiating impish mischief.
Gwen Taylor is an unexpectedly subtle Lady Bracknell – she doesn’t do an exaggerated accent, or ham up the part, but her lines always get huge laughs. She also wears an enormous hat and a bustle so immense that it appears to have a mind of its own – her costume was more forbidding than she was.
Susan Penhaligan is hilarious as Miss Prism, swigging from a flask when her pupil isn’t looking, and waxing lyrical about her novel in three volumes. Her face is remarkably expressive – she doesn’t rely on Wilde’s wit for her laughs. Her flirtation with Rev. Chasuble, played by Geoff Aymer, gave us some of the best received scenes of the evening. Simon Shackleton and Hannah Louise Howell as servants also made the most of their comparatively small roles, growing ever more frustrated with the comic caprice of their employers.
Louise Coulthard actually pranced round the stage with barely suppressed girlish glee as Cecily Cardew, Kerry Ellis glittered with fashionable wit as Gwendolen Fairfax, and Peter Sandys-Clark was a suitably uptight Jack. Overall, a brilliant cast who breezed through the production without making any of the bon-mots seem second hand.
If you love the play, it doesn’t disappoint – and if you’re lucky enough to be able to take someone who’s never seen it before, do so. It’s a great evening guaranteed to make you laugh. Sooner or later, though, I’d love to see a company take on a lesser-known play from Wilde’s canon.
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