The Importance of Being Earnest

Went to see the final preview of The Importance of Being Earnest at the Jermyn Street theatre on 18th. It's an Antic Disposition production and I should point out that I am friends of the owners/directors of the company before going any further. Also Miss Prism (Julie Burgess) is a pal of mine so I could do nothing but love her performance.

All interests declared, and ruthlessly searching my soul for bias, I can still highly recommend this to anyone who wants to go out and enjoy a class act, with a lot of laughs.

The plot

Two upper class rakes have cover stories for leaving town (or pretending to leave town) whenever they wish. It might be to avoid an obligation, or simply to pursue pleasure and avoid scandal. Algernon Montcrieffe goes to visit his invalid friend 'Bunbury' whose health can take sudden turns for the worse, and Jack has a troublesome brother called 'Earnest' who is always needing bailing out of trouble at a moment's notice.

When Jack decides to propose to Gwendoline (Algernon's cousin and daughter of the formidable Lady Bracknell) and Algernon, in the course of mischief-making, falls for Jack's ward Cecily, their cover stories crumble and confusion abounds. It is a comedy of manners that has survived the test of time thanks to Wilde's cynicism what lay beneath the manners of the day.

The cast

Stephen Carlile portrays Algernon with such an undercurrent of immorality that his louche decadence has a hard edge which raises the character from being a mere caricature and mouthpiece for clever lines, to a man who is both exciting and repugnent. He epitomises the fact that the human nature Wilde jokes about, is not a pleasant one.

Ian Hallard, as Jack, grows throughout the performace to stand his own ground against the fantastic Algernon. His philandering nature seems to pale in comparison to Algernon's, but when he takes the lead he assumes it very naturally.

James Pellow, plays the formidable Lady Bracknell. The apparently pantomime idea of having Lady Bracknell played by a man, actually removes the temptation of turning her into a grand dame. Aunt Augusta's piercing eye and self-satisfied mutterings are all the more powerful through Pellow's underplayed presence.

Georgina Carey as Gwendoline is beautiful, shallow and manipulative. Her superficiality is betrayed by the sly glances, minute pauses and calculating delivery that show the cogs turning as she works to secure her place with the right man in the right circumstances. It is easy to imageine that, in the fullness of time, she will be very much like her mother, Lady Bracknell.

Cecily, whose real name I don't have to hand, is terrifying as a young girl on the cusp of womanhood. Her gauche strategies and bubbling sexuality display the underpinnings of Gwendoline's more polished manners.

They are supported by the sexually repressed Miss Prism and her pursuit of the equally repressed vicar and served by the Butler in both town and country.

The set

Inspired and spare design. The central entrance is so imaginatively incorporated into the set that you forget that it's there when not in use other than to add a little colour to the set. The props set the scene without crowding the small stage, and all the action takes place without drawing any attention to the small place in which they are performing.

The venue

The Jermyn Street Theatre is small, but generally well laid out. It is like being in a large living room and a small flight of stairs from the box-office leads directly into the auditorium. It seats around 80 people in a nicely laid out setting. There is some scope for losing sight of characters on stage if they sit down, though the directors of IOBE seem to have noted this as there is little sitting. If you want to use the toilet, you will have to go in the interval or before the show as access involves walking across the stage.