The Importance of being Earnest

There I was sitting in my seat in Chorley Theatre, settling in and waiting for the start of one of my favourite plays, “The Importance of being Earnest”, when unexpectedly onto the stage walked Kieran Smith, in character as Algernon Moncrieff, ready to give the audience the safety and mobile phone notice, then on completion of giving this information we had a further shock, when he promptly launched into miming and dancing around the stage to Tina Turner singing Proud Mary, which surprisingly, unexplainably and even shockingly didn’t seem at all out of place, he finished by saying “you didn’t expect that did you”? No, we did not! But it was so funny, it was an icebreaker, which put everybody in the right mood for watching this superb production.

‘The Importance of being Earnest” is a very witty comedy satire packed with funny one liners by Oscar Wilde which looks at Victorian society's views of marriage; it was the last of his four-drawing room plays which included, “Lady Windermere’s Fan” (1892), “A Woman of No Importance” (1893) and “An Ideal Husband” completed in 1894 but performed in January 1895. “The Importance of Being Earnest” premiered on 14 February 1895 at the St James’s Theatre in London during Oscar Wilde’s literary career. The play was well received at its opening, but it was Wilde's last work for the stage before his legal issues, which began after a dispute with the Marquess of Queensbury, father to Wild’s lover Lord Alfred Douglas. This led to Wilde’s conviction for homosexual acts and subsequent imprisonment in 1895, causing the play to close after 86 performances. After being released from prison in 1897, Wilde left England and moved to Paris. He did not write further comic or dramatic plays but published ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ while in exile.

The play centres on two friends from Victorian high society, Algernon Moncrieff, and "Earnest" Worthing. It is soon revealed that "Earnest" is, in fact, Jack Worthing, whose ward Cecily resides at his country estate and whose name appears in his cigarette case. Jack confides to Algernon that he leads a double life: in the country, he is known as the responsible Jack, while in town he adopts the persona of a fictitious brother named Earnest, a guise that enables him to pursue Gwendolen Fairfax, Algernon's cousin, with whom he wishes to marry. Algernon empathises, admitting that he too maintains a false identity—he frequently visits an imaginary sick friend, Bunbury, in the country as an excuse to avoid tedious social obligations.

Gwendolen and her mother, Lady Bracknell, then arrive for tea at Algernon’s residence. Seizing the opportunity, Jack proposes to Gwendolen, who accepts on condition that he is truly named Earnest, prompting Jack to consider legally changing his name. Upon learning of their engagement, Lady Bracknell enquires into Jack’s background and is appalled when she discovers he was adopted after being found as an infant in a handbag at Victoria Station. She promptly forbids the marriage and any further interaction with her daughter. Nevertheless, Gwendolen assures Jack that the engagement remains, and Jack provides her his country address, hoping she will visit him. Overhearing this, Algernon makes note of the address, eager to meet Cecily.

Act II sees Algernon arriving at Jack’s country home under the pretext of visiting his ill friend Bunbury. He masquerades as Earnest Worthing, Jack’s fictitious brother, and quickly becomes enamoured with Cecily. Complications arise when Gwendolen visits the country house, leading both women to mistakenly believe they are engaged to the same man. The confusion intensifies with Jack's arrival, and his announcement of Earnest’s (his alter ego’s) supposed death in Paris. As events progress, both men confront the consequences of their dual identities and deceptions, particularly in the context of romantic relationships, resulting in a series of misunderstandings exacerbated by Lady Bracknell’s arrival. Both Jack and Algernon struggle to resolve these issues, and when Cecily and Gwendolen discover the truth about their names, both women still insist they could only love a man named Earnest. The play culminates in the resolution of Jack’s mysterious origins and how he came to be found in a handbag at Victoria Station.

Director Robert Walsh and Assistant Director Alan Levesley delivered an impressive production, supported by a talented ensemble who demonstrated strong on-stage rapport and palpable energy. Among the cast, Kieran Smith distinguished himself with a refined dandyish portrayal of Algernon Moncrieff, effectively capturing and articulating Wilde’s sophisticated dialogue. Adam Smith delivered a commendable performance as Jack Worthing, effectively presenting a character distinct from Algernon. He skilfully communicated his character’s frustration with the self-created situations he encountered. Adam and Kieran's portrayals worked together effectively, resulting in comedic scenes that reflected the humour intended by the play. Their interaction often resembled a double act, and they were believable as friends. Amber Walsh delivered an excellent, sharp, and poised, Gwendolen Fairfax, fully capturing the character’s wit and determination. It was lovely to see young actor Ellie Brookfield bringing both maturity and confidence brilliantly to Cecily and cleverly balancing her naivety and intelligence. These four actors in the leading roles worked very well together and were very credible as couples. Their dialogue was particularly good; you could hear every word they spoke, which was especially important for this witty wordy play to work and be a success. I personally felt the content of the script written in 1895 was still funny today. Then of course we have one of the most iconic roles known in the Theatre, none other than the indomitable Lady Bracknell played by Siobhan Edge, and Siobhan was more than up to the task of bringing this wonderful character to life on the stage, making her presence known and performing her characters iconic lines with exceptional precision and great comic timing accompanied by some funny facial expression. Jacob Lee Prince exceled playing two wonderfully distinct comedic roles, Lane the butler and Merriman the Butler, both of which were very well received by the audience. Karen Thompson-Butler portrayed Miss Prism, and Simon Lloyd played Dr Chausable; together, they delivered solid performances and formed a nice convincing couple integral to the plot.

The production introduced quirky comedic elements, such as stage crew dressed as servants handing props to actors during scenes—for instance, delivering a drink to the actor directly on stage. This precise choreography kept the dialogue sharp and ensured the play maintained an ideal pace. Congratulations to Stage manager Emma Hardacre, Properties Judi Brewster and Stage Crew Donner Keller, Ciaran McGee, Chris King, and Rebecca Moran who’s timing bringing the props on stage for the cast was spot on. This is the first time I have seen this idea, and it fitted in wonderfully with this production. The only prop that did not seem to want to behave was a watering can that Cecily tried to throw in the direction of a crew member which was funny. There were three acts and the Scenery and props looked very authentic for the era. There must have been some thought and research undertaken when designing and building the sets which enhanced the atmosphere of the play, I was impressed with the way the garden was set up for the second act by using trellises plants and bushes. Well done to set designer Paul Carr who was also responsible for technical input and good job to all the set builders. The Costumes by Amber Walsh with support from Siobhan Edge, Kath Townsend, Karen Thompson-Butler, and Janie Savage were lovely and very colourful suiting the characters and era of the play beautifully adding extra authenticity and enhancing the look of the production and lastly additional sound effects were handled by Rachel Toner and Marketing was handled by Ian Robinson.

In the end all the misunderstandings are sorted out, mysteries are solved, and everybody is happy about what has been revealed. Thank you very much for inviting me to see this outstanding production we had a very enjoyable evening; I loved all the innovative ideas.

 

 

 

 

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