The Importance of Being Earnest

Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest is a gift for any theatre company for two reasons: Lady Bracknell and tea cups. Any play with an acerbic matriarch and scenes that allow actors to explore the comic possibilities of teacups, trembling upon their bone china saucers, never goes out of favour.

Heidelberg Theatre Company is rolling out the classics to mark its 60^thyear, and this Earnest upholds the company’s reputation for good-quality casting, directing, and production. Director Wendy Drowley, who started with HTC in 1953 and served on its committee for 40 years, has captured the charm, sense of fun and intelligence of Wilde’s script.

This play has seven strong characters, all given great lines, and any one of them can steal the show. Most often it is the actress playing Lady Bracknell who is dominant. In this production it is James Jackson as a cheeky, scene-devouring Algernon Moncrieff. He is clearly having fun in the role, and this is passed on to the audience. Jackson is a hoot, and has terrific chemistry with his co-stars, particularly Taryn Eva (Cecily Cardew) and Ian McGregor (John Worthing). Frances Hutson is no disappointment as Lady Bracknell but plays her a little too straight and too nice. She isn’t an intimidating presence to the other characters, and some of those fabulous lines lose their impact. Judi Clark is a close-second to Jackson in the scene-stealing stakes with her cute portrayal of Miss Prism, a proper lady who starts blushing every time the Reverend Chasuble (John Cheshire) passes by. Cheshire is pretty over-the-top as the geeky Rev, but he gets some of the show’s biggest laughs. Ian McGregor is dashing as John Worthing and is more of a straight man, which works well in his scenes with Jackson. Taryn Eva and Aimee Sanderson are lovely as Cecily and Gwendolen, though both could have more fun and put a bit more venom into their veiled 'fight' scene in the garden. Think of all the possibilities with all that cake and those tea cups.

Add in the gorgeous costumes, and the tastefully decorated sets, and this Earnest is a crowd-pleaser, even if it isn’t tapping too deep into the dark, biting elements of the script.

Sara Bannister

Image - from left: Algernon Moncrieff - James Jackson, Gwendolen Fairfax - Aimee Sanderson, Lady Barcknell - Francis Hutson. Photographer: Patricia Tyler.