A few niggles, but it’s good to go Wilde again

GREAT characters, sparkling dialogue, gloriously-improbable plot twists, romance and a scarcity of cucumbers, The Importance of Being Earnest has it all.

Classics are wonderful for audiences because they know what they are getting. It’s like revisiting an old friend – particularly one as witty and entertaining as Earnest. But, for directors and actors the approach of some old friends is somewhat of a mixed blessing. You do eventually have a good time in his company but he does take a little getting used to and occasionally you may get the feeling he has got nothing new to offer you.

I suspect this was going through several minds at the New Wolsey as it staged what turned out to be a very polished and highly enjoyable production of the Oscar Wilde classic.

It has to be said that at the beginning the largely-young cast were having trouble getting their tongues around some of Wilde’s more convoluted phraseology. I suspect director Ellie Jones had impressed upon them that pace was very important, but first-night nerves, challenging dialogue and young actors unused to such vocal complexities created an opening scene that was gabbled rather than finely paced.

Happily, by the time Lady Bracknell and Gwendoline arrived everything in the house and on-stage was under control.

The Importance of Being Earnest, like all of Wilde’s comedies, requires a pointed but very light touch. Lizzy McInnery (Lady Bracknell) and Michael Fenton Stevens (Dr Chasuble) showed the less experienced members of the cast that less can indeed be more.

Nelly Harker made a wonderfully wide-eyed Cecily who contrasted nicely with Esther, Ruth Elliott’s more worldly Gwendolin Fairfax – although everyone was in danger of being upstaged by Matthew Woodyatt’s brace of brilliantly-conceived butlers, Lane and Merriman.

The set by Dawn Allsopp was ingenious and was suitably bright and airy – the settings are almost additional characters in the play – transforming, with the help of some well-placed folding doors and blinds, from a London townhouse to a conservatory in the country in the blink of an eye.

It was great to be back at the New Wolsey for the start of a new season and this was a terrific way to entice us back after the long summer break.

It was a splendid evening and proved once again that ultimately you never tire of spending time with an old friend like Earnest.

Andrew Clarke