The Importance of Being Earnest Archives

The Importance of Being Earnest – Speke Hall

25Jul

By Mark DavorenNo Comments

North West

The Importance of Being Earnest – Speke Hall

The challenge of Oscar Wilde is not in the words but ensuring the performance does them justice. There were no such fears with director and founding member Mark Hayward’s laugh-out loud production which delights from the off. As butler Lane (Hannah Pryal) prepares tea at the London home of dandy Algernon Moncrief (James Alston) there is a hint of the fun and frolics to follow when his friend John Worthing (Harry Drummond) arrives, explaining that when he tires of life in the country looking after his teenage ward, he escapes to enjoy the high life of the city under the guise of seeing his wayward brother, ‘Ernest’. Algernon, in turn, regales him with his exploits of escaping the city in reverse fashion. Algernon’s aunt, Lady Bracknell (Madeline Hatt), arrives with her daughter, Gwendole...

The Importance of Being Earnest – Royal Exchange

20Jun

By NewsdeskNo Comments

North West

The Importance of Being Earnest – Royal Exchange

When a play is so ubiquitous that most people with even a passing interest in the Arts have seen a theatrical production or filmed version of it, anyone thinking of purchasing a ticket should always ask themselves the question ‘Why bother?’ Fortunately, the Summer offering from the Royal Exchange provides the answer, giving a fresh, funny and resolutely modern take on this classic which should serve to please both new audiences and Wildean purists equally. Director Josh Roche and Designer Eleanor Bull initially present us with a stunning visual treat, the set taking its inspiration from the floral displays in a plethora of shops and coffee houses that infest our modern world. Suspended from the ceiling an enormous imitation flower display acts to illustrate the fake nature of the world ...

<strong>The Importance of Being Earnest – Altrincham Garrick Playhouse</strong>

17Jan

By Paul WilcoxNo Comments

North West

The Importance of Being Earnest – Altrincham Garrick Playhouse

The third week in January traditionally brings 'Blue Monday', reportedly the most depressing day of the entire year. So, in an attempt to pull the audience away from the warmth of hearth and home in the depths of Winter, Altrincham Garrick Playhouse have updated Oscar Wilde's enduring masterpiece of misunderstanding and deception for a modern audience. First staged on Valentine's Day 1895, the plot of 'Earnest' revolves around the wooing of Gwendolen Fairfax (Antonia Whitehead) and Cecily Cardew (Lauren Robinson) by John Worthing (Jamie Sloan) and Algie Moncrieff (Chris Shoop Worrall), abetted by the usual farcical misunderstandings and enough outrageous plot twists to make Charles Dickens blush. What lifts the play above mere buffoonery is the quality of the writing, the genius 'bon mo...

<strong>The Importance of Being Earnest – The Rose Theatre</strong>

4Nov

By Maani WayNo Comments

London

The Importance of Being Earnest – The Rose Theatre

The hilariously classic Oscar Wilde tale, The Importance of Being Earnest, is reimagined in a fresh and contemporary new production at The Rose Theatre in Kingston. The vision for this modernised version of the play is to draw attention to the lives of the often-forgotten black Victorians who were an integral part of society in the 19th century. Oscar Wilde believed that rules are made to be broken and boundaries are designed to be pushed, this current production encapsulating all kinds of exploration including a gender fluid approach to some characters and drag queen Vinegar Strokes playing Lady Bracknell. The story is one of two friends in high society, John ‘Jack’ Worthing, and Algernon ‘Algie’ Moncrieff who each create alter-egos coincidentally named Ernest to escape their tiresome ...

The Importance of Being Earnest – Liverpool Playhouse

12Oct

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

North West

The Importance of Being Earnest – Liverpool Playhouse

Avant-garde, adventurous, audacious – and yes, artificial, but brilliantly witty, Oscar Wilde lives on in this hugely entertaining production. The cast introduce themselves by waltzing on, immediately conveying the merry-go-round of their lives with ever changing tableaux of laughter and posturing, voguing almost, and dance, like a visual representation of those many scintillating one liners which accurately skewer so much of Society - then and now. Its trivialities and shallowness are wonderfully exposed. This takes place chez Algernon, walls garnished with portraits, as well as frames which serve as portals and hatches, although strangely sparse when it comes to furniture, but for one elegant chaise longue (of course). We then move outside, into the garden of Ernest's country pile, an...

The Importance of Being Earnest – Leeds Playhouse

13Sep

By Paul ClarkeNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

The Importance of Being Earnest – Leeds Playhouse

With this lively revival Sir Peter Hall Director Award winner Denzel Westley-Sanderson wanted to bust the myth that Black history started with migrants coming down the Windrush’s gangplank, and instead employs wealthy Black Victorians to reinvent this eternally witty study of manners and the corrosive nature of rigid societal conventions. It works because it actually reinforces the reality that conforming to pointless social niceties only reinforces baseless prejudices, no matter your ethnicity, as love rivals the dissolute Algernon and his social climbing friend John seek the hands of two women who are blissfully unaware they aren’t who they say they are. Throw in a snobbish matriarch, a deceitful governess, a randy vicar, plus knowing servants, and you have all the elements of a class...

Casting revealed for The Importance of Being Earnest at Leeds Playhouse

6Aug

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

NEWS

Casting revealed for The Importance of Being Earnest at Leeds Playhouse

The cast has been revealed for Denzel Westley-Sanderson's retelling of Oscar Wilde’s most outrageous comedy, The Importance of Being Earnest, which premieres at Leeds Playhouse from 5th -17th September before heading out on a UK tour. Westley-Sanderson is melding Wilde’s sharp wit with chart-toppers and contemporary references to offer a sassy promising an unique take on the classic satire about dysfunctional families, class, gender and sexuality. The cast includes Daniel Jacob, who has gained international recognition as his Drag Queen alter ego Vinegar Strokes, who plays the iconic Lady Bracknell. Jacob is joined by Midsomer Murders’ Phoebe Campbell as Cecily making her theatre debut, the experienced Valentine Hanson as Merriman/Lane and Joanne Henry as Miss Prism wh...

The Importance of Being Earnest – Lawrence Batley Theatre & The Dukes

20Apr

By Kiefer WilliamsNo Comments

REVIEWS

The Importance of Being Earnest – Lawrence Batley Theatre & The Dukes

Oscar Wilde’s wonderfully adroit and sharply observed comedy involving romantic mischief and the pursuit of love is reimagined and adapted by writer Yasmeen Khan. This digital co-production between the Laurence Batley Theatre Huddersfield and The Dukes Lancaster uses some film and video techniques throughout and the results are both slick and well-paced. Using the basic narrative of the original play, Khan, cleverly transfers the action of the story to modern day. Largely set in the world of the sitcom and social media, we follow the romantic misadventures of struggling actor Jamil/Earnest played by Gurjett Singh, Algy played by Tom Dixon, Gul played by Nikki Patel and Safina played by Zoe Iqbal. I must say that all four actors give tremendously energetic performances throughout a...