The Importance of being Earnest

Over the past yearsv several productions of The Importance of being Earnest have been produced in various guises, with different stars playing the lead roles  I myself have seen a few!! So, when I got the call from RaTs I thought, oh no not another Earnest. I need not have worried, this Earnest was fresh and directed superbly by Claire Feekings, a début in directing for her I believe. If this is correct she has got a flair for it. It was directed with lots of movement and Claire got her actors to bring out their characters.

Lane (Curtis Armitage) was played with tongue in cheek and sarcasm, difficult with so little dialogue. Algernon Moncrieff (Josh Webb) is a great part for a young guy and he played Algernon with flare and coupled with Andy Anderson (John/Jack Worthing), who is a very expressive and a natural actor, using his eyes and stance, also his uptake on dialogue were suburb!!

Lady Bracknell (Grant Flanagan) does not so much enter a room as occupy it totally. He is a master of the frozen stares of disdain. Just what this part requires, and Grant's interpretation of Bracknell was exceptional, and his facial nuances were spot on. Faye Wyatt and Lauren Feekings are utterly exquisite and inventively adorable as, respectively, Miss Fairfax and Miss Cardew. I have never seen better performances of these two parts. Kathy West on the other hand gave us a great, appropriate character to uncover Jack's true history, because she also is not what she seems. Teamed with the Reverend Chasuble (Andrew Manktelow) she gave us some nice comedy moments, as did Jan Wyatt as Merriman.

The set must get a mention, designed expertly by Kathy West,……..Fabulous well done to you all, it worked, solid, and workable, a joy to see. Claire Feekings, your debut to directing was and is successful, carry on. 

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