The Importance of Being Earnest at Rose Theatre

I made a News Year's Resolution for 2022 to restart my blog by writing something, however short, about every theatre trip, gallery visit or other signifiant event and here we go!

What finally drove me back to blogging was the fantastic production of The Importance of Being Earnest at Rose Theatre.

I was not that tempted to see it at first as I had seen and heard several productions of Earnest over the years and while the whimsical bon mots are entertaining I had never fallen in love with the play. What persuaded me to go in the end was a loyalty to Rose Theatre, I see all the main theatrical productions there, and there being no real reason not to see an Oscar Wilde play. So I duly forked out my £35 (I now qualify for a Concession Senior Citizen rate so getting old is not all bad) for seat J40 in my usual area.

That this was a different production was made clear at the start with the cast making entrances and exits to music before the actual play started. The tone was set immediately when the manservant, Lane, came in carrying a tray of cucumber martinis arranged in a pyramid. There were numerous acts of humour added to the play like this and they all added nicely to the scenes being played out before us.

What really made the production so brilliant (aside from the obvious strength of Wilde's words) was the cast and each and every one of them was excellent; I particularly liked Abiola Owokoniran as the outrageous dandy Algernon Moncrieff, and Phoebe Campbell and Adele James as the two young ladies. 

What made the performances so remarkable is that this was a young cast and for several of them it was their first major stage role. You would never have guessed this, I certainly did not.

The direction of the play took it towards pantomime, but not too far to be childish. There were lots of exaggerated gestures and expressions, especially from the young ladies, to push the humour along. Reinforcing the idea of pantomime, the formidable Lady Bracknell was played flamboyantly by a man.

The continual humour in the staging matched the continual humour in the script and Earnest was a delight throughout. I never do star ratings because theatre is so subjective but this Earnest is most definitely a five star show.