THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST. To 8 November.
Keswick.
THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST
by Oscar Wilde.
Theatre By The Lake In rep to 8 November 2008.
Mon-Sat 8pm Mat 17 Sept, 8, 29 Oct, 8 Nov.
Captioned 8 Oct 2pm.
Runs 2hr 40min Two intervals.
TICKETS: 017687 74411.
www.theatrebythelake.com
Review; Timothy Ramsden 21 August.
Production showing the vital importance of being honest with the play.
Approaching its 10th anniversary, Ian Forrest’s lakeside theatre seems to grow ever-stronger. Earnest is a play that tempts directors and designers to unnecessary, distracting extravagances. But not here. Forrest takes a currently popular way with the characters, giving them a sense of reality. Matthew Vaughan’s Algernon, the clearest aesthete in Wilde’s plays, gives a shudder at the thought of dining next to the embarrassing Mary Farquhar, followed by an indication of just how she might behave.
Gwendolen’s half-way to a Victorian young lady’s version of an orgasm as she tells how she adores the name Ernest, while shuddering with horror at the lack of “vibrations” in the name Jack. Jack Worthing, suitably kitted out in a smart yet respectable suit that separates him, along with his slight air of worry, from the self-certainty of his friend Algy, injects a hopefulness into the railway detail of “The Brighton line”, as if the fashionable resort will give his terminal origin some cachet.
Even Lady Bracknell shows her feelings. Sara Coward, having noticeably snubbed Jack on entering, trips over the famous “handbag” response, showing disbelief and leading nearly to tears at the full and final revelations from her daughter’s suitor. Amy Humphreys indicates Gwendolen is, as Jack fears, well on the way to becoming like her mother in her imperious step-by-step gestures to guide him through his marriage proposal. No wonder she takes up her mother’s place on the stage after Lady Bracknell’s left.
This young City lady’s neatly contrasted by Krissi Bohn’s younger, rural Cecily, lively and youthful in mannerism (though encumbered by a heavy, formal dress that belies her youth), impulsive and with a spiky wit.
Add a dependable Chasuble and Dinah Handley’s alert Prism and there’s a strong production. Not perfect; some of the longer sentences are unhelpfully chopped and slowed, while Peter Rylands’ servant double works beautifully as the sophisticated Lunnoner Lane, alive to his employer’s foibles, but less so as the stolid rural Merriman, siding with Cecily. And Algy surely wouldn’t tread on his own furniture. But this is a lively, thoughtful revival and well-worth a visit lakeside.
Cecily Cardew: Krissi Bohn.
Lady Bracknell: Sara Coward.
Canon Chasuble: David Ericsson.
Miss Prism: Dinah Handley.
Gwendolen Fairfax: Amy Humphreys.
John Worthing: Andrew Pollard.
Lane/Merriman: Peter Rylands.
Algernon Moncrieff: Matthew Vaughan.
Director: Ian Forrest.
Designer: Martin Johns.
Lighting: Nick Beadle.
Sound: Matt Hall.
Etiquette: Lorrelei Lynn.
2008-08-29 17:40:27