By Louise
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The Importance of Being Earnest is one of my very favourite plays and this production is perfect. If you enjoyed the recent modern production at the Lawrence Batley Theatre and you would like to see the play it was based on, or if you already love the play and would like to see it again, you might really enjoy this performance. (You could also watch SupportBritish’s production on YouTube. We haven’t watched it yet as we were a bit scared Roundabout Theatre Company’s production might be taken down before we could see it, but SupportBritish’s plays are always of a really high standard and the actors are so lovely and I am really looking forward to watching their Importance of Being Earnest in the future.)
Oscar Wilde’s play starts off with two young men named Jack and Algernon. Jack wants to marry Algernon’s cousin Gwendolen, but Algernon isn’t completely happy about that. Jack left his glasses case behind the last time he visited Algernon and it’s clear from the inscription inside that it was given to him by a woman who isn’t Gwendolen. Jack does everything he can to get out of explaining, but eventually, he is forced to tell the truth and this leads to mayhem.
The Importance of Being Earnest is very witty and it has brilliant characters and really wonderful lines which are actually just as clever as they sound. Although the characters in this play spend a lot of time withholding the truth from each other and sometimes actually lying, I think there is actually a lot of truth in this play.
It is quite a long play and a lot of directors take it at a very fast pace. Director Brian Bedford has made his production much more leisurely. I don’t want to be rude about the directors who take it quickly, but my brain doesn’t always move fast enough to keep up with all the jokes. If the director lets the play go more slowly, there is time for me to understand and appreciate every single clever line. Even though it is farcical, Mr Bedford has not gone in a slapstick direction and the characters seem like real and very likeable human beings.
Desmond Heeley designed the sets and costumes and they look wonderful. The sets are very elegant and they go perfectly with the style of the play. The costumes are exactly right too – the men are very smart and the ladies with more money have really beautiful dresses. Everything and everyone in this play looks really lovely.
Although she actually isn’t in it that much, the most famous character in the play might be Lady Bracknell. It is a brilliant role for a mature lady, but the role is also sometimes played by men and in this 2011 production, the role is played by director Brian Bedford. It is a really brilliant performance. It is actually hard to believe he is a man. He speaks and moves really well and even in the close-ups, I completely accept him as a woman. He takes the role seriously (or as seriously as you can in a farcical comedy) and he gets the laughs by saying his lines brilliantly, not just by being a man playing a female role. I think it would be really sad if Lady Bracknell was turned into a pantomime dame sort of character, but when a role is performed as well as this, it really doesn’t matter what the actor’s gender is.
David Furr and Santino Fontana are really lovely as Jack and Algernon. Mr Furr is really charming and his comic timing is so perfect and I love the way he reacts to things like walking into one of his own homes and discovering his best friend… actually, I’d better not tell you what his best friend is doing in case you haven’t seen it, but his best friend is the last person he’s expecting to see.
Mr Fontana is really sweet as Algernon. I love the way he expresses his emotions and doesn’t try to hide them. Whether he’s happy, sad, angry or absolutely terrified (which most people tend to be when Lady Bracknell is around), that comes across really strongly. He is brilliant at the comedy too.
Sara Topham is a very bossy and very funny Gwendolen and you can see she is Lady Bracknell’s daughter! She is very good at being in control and I hope Jack is ready for that. Charlotte Parry is a really sweet Cecily – she is kind and innocent and she has a lovely personality.
Dana Ivey is quite a scary Miss Prism, which makes it even funnier when she sees Lady Bracknell and is as terrified as everyone else. I love the way Paxton Whitehead really draws out the Reverend Canon Chasuble’s lines, and Paul O’Brien’s moodiness as Lane makes the opening of the play even funnier.
A perfect production of a brilliant play.
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