THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST: Wilde, Touring till 27 August

Nottingham

THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST: Wilde
Heartbreak Productions: Tour Info 01926 430307 www.heartbreakproductions.co.uk
Runs: 2h 30m: one interval: till 15th June then tours nationwide till 27th Aug
Performance times: Varies with venue
Review: Alan Geary: Nottingham: 14th June

Interesting update - but is it enlightening?

The up-date from the 1890s to 1939 is unhelpful; all the same, this open-air production makes an entertaining evening.
To underline the frivolousness and selfishness of the class portrayed and, so the programme tells us, to stop it being “a pretty period piece”, this enjoyable open-air offering of Wilde’s masterpiece shifts proceedings from the 1890s to September 1939. But the up-dating is unnecessary: as an established classic, The Importance isn’t a period piece; it already speaks to and entertains us at various levels. In any case, the late thirties is as much a period as the 1890s.

Far from enhancing the play, the war news bulletin coming out of the art deco wireless set is actually an unwelcome and inappropriate intrusion. And much of the music isn’t even from the chosen decade; though there’s a stylishly light-hearted thirties cabaret spot before the play starts.

On the plus side - and there are many positives in this production - director Maddy Kerr re-introduces the funny and rarely performed scene involving Gribsby, the debt-chasing solicitor. She also draws out fine performances from most of her actors.

Kim Baker [Miss Prism] is often over-emphatic in her movements and too histrionic so that the governess becomes a caricature and her lines are occasionally lost; Claire Worboys [Gwendolen], otherwise excellent, sometimes fails to project adequately, particularly at the start.

Perhaps it’s something to do with the period shift, but both Laurence Aldridge, as Jack, and Harry Smith, as Algernon, avoid the trap of being mannered and over-camp. Jack is a delight. His facial expression and comic timing are well controlled. He and the more dissolute Algernon, well played by Smith, also a good pianist, provide a nice physical contrast; this is true too of Worboys and Lydia Aers [Cecily].

In fact, the contrast, too, between town and country, perhaps between decadence and relative innocence, is nicely brought out in this entertaining production.

Algernon Moncrieff: Harry Smith
Lane/Gribsby/Canon Chasuble: Jonathan Derby
Jack Worthing: Laurence Aldridge
Lady Bracknell/Merrimina: Rosalind Davidson
Gwendolen Fairfax: Claire Worboys
Miss Prism: Kim Baker
Cecily Cardew: Lydia Aers

Director: Maddy Kerr
Designer: Lee Cadden
Composer/Music Arranger/Music Consultant: Andy Guthrie
Dance Choreographer: Michelle Carlton

2006-06-19 09:28:50