Theatre Australia

your portal for australian theatre

The Importance of being Earnest

Sat, 29 Aug 2009, 06:45 pm
Gordon the Optom44 posts in thread

‘The Importance of being Earnest’ by Oscar Wilde, is being performed by the Class Act theatre Inc. group at Subiaco arts Centre in Hammersley Road, Subiaco. Last performance at 8.00 pm on Saturday 29th August.

         Whenever the somewhat nervous and insecure Jack Worthing (Dan Luxton) announces that he is going to see his imaginary brother Ernest, he is in fact he going to visit the ravishing Gwendolyn (Rhoda Lopez). One day, the aristocratic, arrogant, lecherous and bullying Algy (Ben Russell) who also has trips away - to see Bunbury, another fictitious friend in the country – is awaiting a visit from his aunt, Lady Bracknell (Craig Williams).

         Jack, who is known in London as Ernest, gives his true love Gwendolyn his country address, that she may visit him. However, he is overheard by Algy who also notes the address, and decides to pay a ‘surprise’ visit. Here Algy meet’s Jack’s ward of court, Cecily Cardew (Whitney Richards). Cecily is looked after by a frumpy old maid, dressed in tweeds - her guardian, Miss Prism (Angelique Malcolm) who is truly a strict and miserable old bird, that is until she sees the Rev. Dr Chasuble (Stephen Lee), the elderly local minister whom she drools over like a teenager.

         To their horror, all the friends and relatives meet together and massive complications develop. The question is who, if anyone, will get to marry whom?

If I had a dollar for every person who has commented ‘Oh not Earnest again!’ I would be a rich man. So, to be truthful I was semi reluctant to go and see this play yet again. I dragged myself along and thank goodness, I did, as this was easily the best of the dozens that I have seen. Besides the fabulous costumes (tour manager Glynis Best), the script was delivered with perfect pace and timing. The last time I saw Lady Bracknell played in drag was by professional comedians, Hinge and Brackett about 15 years ago. They were funny, but this band of jesters had the audience laughing aloud for the whole two and a half hours.

Craig was superb as Bracknell; in the style of Alastair Sim, he was hilarious as the threatening and gruesome Aunt. It was so surprising to see such talented Shakespearean actors, as Dan Luxton and Angelique Malcolm, being so truly gifted in comedy. Dan and Ben Russell (who has had an amazing year) performed a brief soft shoe shuffle, which was a delight.

Rhoda Lopez, renowned for her beautiful singing voice, was most at home with her aristocratic accent and hilarious part. Whitney who was superb as Hamlet’s Ophelia, here went through a 180 degrees to give another brilliant performance as the naïve and stubborn Cecily.

Even though it is more than 50 years since Dame Edith Evans uttered ‘a handbag’, audiences wait for the line in anticipation, and invariably are disappointed. In this production, Lady Bracknell, with a sour face, held the audience for what seemed minutes as she fiddled with her accoutrements in total silence, and then delivered the line most successfully with a quietly dismissive gasp of ‘a handbag!’.

One of the funniest classic shows I have seen in years, with a magnificent cast, that worked fabulously as a team. See it twice! Worthy of an Oscar.

Log in to reply

Dan, I didn't write a

Mon, 31 Aug 2009, 11:09 pm
cernunnon
Dan, I didn't write a review to attack you or anyone involved with the production. Please don''t be insulted. As you note, there were plenty of people in your many audiences that loved the show, and that should be enough for you. My singular opinion doesn't discount their many. As I stated in my original post, it was a shame for me. And that's just me, and only a handful of other people I have spoken to. I don't claim to be an authority on audience satisfaction. I am entitled to my opinion, and I'm not one to agree with the mob if I think differently. As to a list of gags, I didn't object to anything in particular- as I stated, I felt that every line was played that way. You can, and have, defended that position. That's fine too, and most of the audience agreed with you. To illustrate my disappointment, I'll use your hat gag. I don't think there was anything wrong with this- hell, it's a classic. Where it failed for me is that I saw it coming from the moment you put the hat on the seat. Because of the unsophisticated style of humour used throughout the show, it became predictable. I didn't think it was unfunny in isolation, but when that's all there was to the show, it didn't stand out. I'm happy that you feel you all played Earnest in a way true to a farce. I just don't think that's the best reading of the text. For me it works best as a satire of the comedies of manners, particularly those of the late-eighteenth and early-nineteenth century. Without descending in to a semantic argument, I don't think that farce is the style Wilde wrote in. You do. Fine. I think what I saw was more like a sitcom, which is certainly derivative of farce. Maybe Craig (via citation) is right that I understood the text and that it spoiled the show for me. I won't deny that at all. I'd prefer to say that my understanding of the text is different to yours. The play can be read many ways, and I didn't like your reading. You don't need to justify it to me, and it has already been validated by the overwhelming majority of audience members. Be proud of that. In response to Oscar the Grouch, if I wanted to make my personal life public, I wouldn't be quite so silly as to air my opinions on this forum, which is unfortunately notorious for undignified and unvalidated comments such as yours. I'm glad to say that people who know me well understand that I have a little more class than that.
Log in to reply

Thread (44 posts)

ThreadedFlat
The Importance of being Earnest— Gordon the Optom29 Aug 2009
← Back to Theatre Reviews