The Importance of being Earnest

The Importance of being Ernest was performed by this society in the open air in a village hall garden on a perfect August evening, and was well received by all who came.
We were given a very friendly welcome and were settled down, with drinks and snacks, to watch the play as others partook of picnics and refreshments, which was apt for the relaxed atmosphere. Any Society choosing this very ambitious play has numerous monumental problems to contend with especially in the open air with minimal scenery. Firstly it is one of Oscar Wilde’s most regularly performed and best known plays, secondly this piece is set in three acts, each requiring a different setting. Thirdly the cast requires five men of a variety of ages, a problem for many societies but Manor Theatre Group scored on all three of these counts. The play opens in Algernon Moncrieff”s flat in London. What an affected pompous character he is and Dennis Manning succeeded brilliantly with excellent body language and facial expressions. How he managed to consume all those cucumber sandwiches and still deliver his lines was remarkable. John Hope as Jack Worthing also rose to the period of the piece which is not easy when you compare the characters of that time with our modern day lifestyle. His performance was both very watchable and totally convincing. Suzanne Cottingham as Gwendolen Fairfax and Kathryn Felton as Cecily Cardew were suitably naive but very different. They both came over as if just stepping out of a Jane Austin novel with their mixture of primness and silliness. Next on the scene was Lady Bracknell played by Laine Watson. Her performance had so many well known actresses to compare to, but she made this her own. In Act 2 we were convincingly transported to the garden at the Manor House Woolton where Mandy Lovell as the very starchy Miss Prism was trying to control her wilful pupil. She was excellently supported by Andrew Bates as Rev Canon Chasuble a delightfully pious and subjugated character with a wonderful simpering stutter. Finally it is easy to forget that however talented and professionally the principals perform they need support from the entire cast. The parts of Lane and Merriman (John Oade and Julian Tiley) proved that everyone in this production was an important player. The subtle lighting and sound was adequate bearing in mind the setting, the costumes were well put together and the direction was excellent.

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