The Importance of Being Earnest

The London Classic Theatre staged a performance of Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest in Siamsa Tíre from Valentine’s Day to the 16^th of February.   The play follows two gentlemen, John Worthing (Paul Sandys) and Algernon Moncriff (Harry Livingstone), who have both created fictional personae in order to deceive their friends and families.  When Algernon is faced with family engagements he does not wish to attend he claims that his invalid friend, Mr Bunbury, has taken a bad turn and that he must go to Bunbury’s country home to care for him. John’s deception is of a different nature, he lives in Hertfordshire with his eighteen year old ward, Cecily (Felicity Houlbrooke), and in order to be a good influence he tries to maintain a serious demeanour. However he also has a libertine streak and he regularly leaves for London with the excuse that his fictional brother, Ernest, has landed himself in trouble and John must go to the city to help him. When he arrives at London John lives under the name of Ernest and is therefore free to live out his whims.  At the beginning of the play John has resolved to kill off Ernest but his plan is immediately complicated when the lady he  has been courting in London, Mrs Fairfax (Helen Keeley),  declares that she loves him because of his name (which she believes to be 'Ernest'). Here Ernest who was initially a boon to John has become a burden and unbeknownst to John the devious Algernon has arrived at John’s country home claiming to be Ernest and he is intent on causing trouble. 

Structurally the play is not original; it is a comedy which derives much of its humour from the confusion which arises from mistaken identities, however what separates The Importance of Being Earnest from other plays of this type is Wilde’s witty and outrageous use of language. I felt that the first the half of the production was a bit flat comedywise: I chuckled a lot but I do not think I laughed out loud. However the second half of the play more than made up for the disappointment of the first and I found myself laughing throughout.  I think the relative weakness of the first half  was down to the fact that  much time was expended consisted in down the foundation for the plot and the subsequent hilarity of the second half.

The quality of the cast was strong, However I felt that Laosisha O’Callaghan’s (who played the part of Miss Prism) Irish accent was jarring when put next the clipped aristocratic accents of the rest of the cast. Harry Livingstone’s Algernon Moncriff was a particular highlight in that he proved to be both charismatic and hilariously mischievous.

The set design was distinguished by its minimalism which helped to bring attention to Wilde’s masterful use of language. An interesting aspect of the set design was that every character had a unique chair whose style reflected the character’s personality. The one part of the set that I found off putting was the huge back drop of three gigantic pink roses which contradicted the set designer’s minimalist aims and which in my view did  not display any real metaphorical significance which could have been used to justify such a huge (and presumably expensive) set piece.

Despite a uneven start I felt that the London Classic Theatre’s production was a highly entertaining show which was sharply and skilfully executed by an accomplished cast and compliment by a smart minimalist set design.

3 out of five stars.