The Importance of Being Earnest

I welcomed the opportunity to see this play again but was a little surprise to see that Director Diane Owen had decided to use the original Four Act version, which has an additional character, a solicitor Mr Gribsby, rather than the more traditional Three Act version. To ensure the play was not overlong she had obtained permission from Samuel French to make cuts elsewhere. As the audience were settling in they were entertained by pianist Paul Cragg, sitting at the piano complete with candelabra. There were two major set changes in the play which required the curtains to be closed and this usually breaks the continuity of the play, but with the excellent choice of music being played throughout the set changes, the atmosphere was maintained and the new sets were well worth waiting for. The play opens in the rooms of Algernon Montcrieff in London, which had the air of an elegant ‘town house’, with fireplace and appropriate furnishings. The next set was the garden at The Manor House, Woolton, which was accessed from the house via a set of French Doors. The final set was the opulent drawing room of the Manor House, with the French Doors accessing the garden of the previous scene. All of the sets were outstanding, they had been well designed, constructed and decorated; they were well dressed with appropriate furniture and furnishings; and all appropriately lit, you could really feel the warmth of the summer sun in the garden. The costumes were all of the period, and worn with the required poise and deportment and the ladies wigs and make up were all suitably fashionable. 

The play had been well cast with everyone having a good understanding of their character. Lane, the manservant, is a lovely role and Stan Ward was every inch the inscrutable servant. He made sure everything was in its proper place and gave his views only when asked, with the well-delivered lines on ‘marriage’, which the audience appreciated. Ross Arnott and Grant McCotter, as Algernon Moncrieff and John Worthing, were an excellent duo, displaying the differences in their characters and playing off each other throughout. Algernon was obviously the younger, more carefree man, with a great sense of humour and a bit of a rogue, whereas John had ‘responsibilities’ and took life more seriously, even as ‘Ernest’ and was much more of a gentleman. Lin Bowden made an imposing entrance, as Lady Bracknell, and spoke with excellent diction. I felt there were some initial hesitant moments, but, once nerves had settled, a fine performance ensued. Kate Salt, as the Hon. Gwendolen Fairfax, daughter to Lady Bracknell, gave a strong performance. She showed she was her mother’s daughter, very ‘upper class’ and not to be trifled with, also the shallowness of the character in the lovely scene with Cecily where she starts the encounter with “I like you already more than I can say” which changes before the end of the scene to “From the moment I saw you I distrusted you”. Lucy Cragg captured the innocence and naivety of young Cecily Cardew, on the one hand, and the rebelliousness of a young girl cooped up in the country with her dreams and romances but wanting excitement on the other.  She interacted well with the other characters. Tina Stewart as the prim and proper governess Miss Prism, showed how flustered she could become, so the audience could believe her mixing up a baby and a manuscript. Sometimes in her confusion, her voice dropped and we lost some of the lines, for example after the proposal. Simon Carney was the rather befuddled Cannon Chasuble who was enamoured of Miss Prism.  Andrew Stubbs as Mr Worthing’s country butler was efficient and slightly less austere than London, manservant Lane. Mr Gribsby, a solicitor, played by David Lord, is a lovely character with no pretensions. He was in complete contrast to the other characters, matter of fact and could not be doing with these aristocratic twits who ran up vast bills for dining.

Stage Manager Rob Owen, had taken the set designs of Lorraine Badminton and with his construction crew produced three amazing sets which combined with lighting sound, costumes and live piano, took us to Wilde’s England. The Stage Crew is to be complimented on their swift and quiet set changing. Director Diane Owen had helped each actor understand their characters and the era they were portraying, there were some wonderful reactions and facial expressions. Everyone had developed the correct posture and the precise annunciation of the class they were representing. This was a wonderful combined effort to bring to life Oscar Wilde’s ‘Trivial Comedy for Serious People’. A big thank you to everyone for a most enjoyable evening.

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.