The Importance of Being Earnest

Taunton Thespians Summer Tour

‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ by Oscar Wilde.

Thursday 18th July 2019. 19.30 Outdoor Performance.

Muchelney Abbey.

 

 

Muchelney Abbey, what a beautiful outdoor setting and luckily, on this occasion, a perfect summer evening too. Ideal for your audience to sit, picnic and enjoy your interpretation of this classic piece from the wonderful Mr. Wilde.

It is always a challenge to stage a well-known and loved piece of theatre. Audiences arrive with expectations and inevitably make comparisons with other productions they may have seen, whether they were live theatre, television or film presentations. So, add to that challenge the task of performing outdoors with minimal set and props and you indeed have to look to the one aspect of the piece which gives it such a high level of popularity and that is of course, the words. I always remember being taught that Oscar Wilde ‘never used one word if he could indeed use half a dozen instead and those half dozen would be perfectly balanced and appropriate’. The joy of this piece lies in the characters, their use of the language, their manners and the social etiquette of the period.

But here I am saying something that you were all obviously already aware of! This was demonstrated by the careful attention to the precise delivery of the dialogue by all of the actors, underpinned by equally careful and thoughtful character presentations. Dialogue was delivered very accurately and clearly and your very appreciative audience, were completely absorbed in the story - to the point of delivering some of the more famous lines along with you, particularly those delivered by Lady Bracknell. All of your cast, without exception, remained totally in character at all times and very credibly did not let anything distract their portrayals.

Having to pare down the sets, dressing and props to accommodate outdoor performance can often result in a sparse feel but this was not the case here. The accurate presentation and fit of costume gave a very colourful lift to the feel of the whole piece. Overall the characters were very appropriately attired. Attention to detail was obvious with some lovely embellishments here and there, but when playing so close to your audience be aware that small things like modern magnetic clasps on purses, over ornate brooches, ready made bow ties and diaries for hand props that are obviously printed inside are all too visible, a pity when everything else is so well presented.

The screens, painted in a very simplistic fashion were well placed and gave just the right feel to each scene without being over ornate. Other items of furniture and props were perfectly appropriate and all the tea things, including the cucumber sandwiches, teacake and muffins were spot on.

The whole piece moved at a good pace and - as mentioned before, your audience, were engaged throughout. Occasionally, I felt the placement of characters, (which were very sensibly often stood rather than sat because of visibility issues for the outdoor setting), was a little untidy and there was a tendency for characters to not quite know where or who to deliver their dialogue to and consequently it seemed establishing their changes in status as the plot unfolded was sometimes difficult for them to achieve. The imaginary mirror at front would have been a little more convincing if each actor using it had all done so by focusing at the same spot.

Everyone in the cast worked extremely hard to establish their characters and there were some lovely pairings and delightful demonstrations of great rapport, particularly from Miss Prism and Canon Chasuble. The banter between Algernon and John was delightfully delivered. But, however well a character is portrayed and despite the high standard given from a role, physicality cannot be anything other than what we see and I did find a great imbalance in some aspects of the casting. In particular the age balance between characters must be convincing and I, in all honesty could not, despite the effort from both actors find the pairing of Gwendolen and John a believeable one. It was, however, evident and very refreshing to see that all actors made their own interpretations and not on any occasion did I feel that I was witnessing an impersonation of any well-known portrayals. Commendable.

Overall, a thoroughly enjoyable evening, staging a successful, high standard presentation of a classic piece. Thank you for your hospitality and I look forward to your next production.

Jane Burt

NODA District 8a Representative

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.