The Importance of Being Earnest

Synopsis

Classic turn-of-the-century comedy of social manners. A very complicated plot that includes the famous "A Handbag!" line .. Jack Worthing is in love with Gwendolen Fairfax, daughter of the redoubtable Lady Bracknell, and cousin of his friend Algernon. They cannot wed until the mystery of his parentage (he was found in a handbag on Victoria Station) is resolved. Algy discovers that Jack has a pretty young ward, Cecily, living at the Manor and visits her pretending to be Jack's fictitious (and wicked) brother Ernest.

Our Review:

1 February 2008

It’s always a nice surprise when directors go against expectations, so all credit to Peter Gill for steering The Importance of Being Earnest well clear of that upholstered Victorian comfort zone where Oscar Wilde’s stylish mix of topsy turvy aphorisms and smart epigrams can easily end up resembling a puffed-up theatrical soufflé with nothing of importance at the centre except a famous killer line about a handbag.

Wilde himself described his play of Victorian manners as “a trivial comedy for serious people”. Gill and his cast, led by the formidable Penelope Keith with her chin held fashionably high as the socially arrogant Lady Bracknell, take Wilde’s trivial pursuits pretty seriously, which mostly pays off handsomely. Instead of adding new layers of meaning to a play that has been groaning with its own cleverness ever since it was first performed in 1895, and generating all manner of theatrical interpretations along the way,...

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Latest User Review

Quentin - 6 March 2008:

Quite dreadful. I saw the fringe version at the Jermyn Street Theatre last year and that had everything that this tired and hackneyed version lacks. Where Jermyn Street's was pacey, fresh, inventive and most importantly funny, here we have an old-fashioned warhorse that creaks at every turn. The opening scene between Jack and Algy is interminable and raised no laughs at all. William Ellis and Harry Hadden-Paton are posh, irritating and poor; Penelope Keith slightly underpowered and Janet Henfrey stagey and amateur. Only the wonderful Daisy Haggard as Gwendolen redeems the whole sorry mess and steals the show. However it's still not enough to prevent my feelings of frustration and anger that this passes for decent West End theatre. One golden Wildean line after another was issued into a gaping void of silence. Steer clear is my advice!...

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