The Importance of Being Earnest

The Importance of Being Earnest is a gorgeously written comedy, and despite being written 128 years ago, is still one of the wittiest plays being performed. Under the direction of Tim Riessen, who is having a very busy year, Roxy Lane takes us back to the late Victorian era and provides lots of laughs with this “trivial comedy for serious people”.

Jim Chantry and Herman Rust have built a very functional set that converts well to our three playing spaces, the London drawing room of Algernon Moncrieff, the attractive country garden of Jack Worthing and a comfortable room in his home. Painted effectively by Celeste Lopez, the transformations are nicely done, and the settings both significantly different and lovely to look at. Very pretty, era-appropriate costumes are provided by Celeste Lopez, with the ladies’ costuming particularly attractive.

Max Ernest HIngston (yes, his middle name really is Ernest), only 15 years old, belies his age to play Algernon with sophistication and maturity. He works well with everyone, especially Brendan Ellis, who gives us a Jack who is interestingly both more laconic and more bombastic as John Worthing than we usually see.

Kristine Lockwood, brought to the cast as a last-minute replacement in the final week of rehearsals, was working with script in hand, but gave us an authoritative Lady Bracknell. Astrid Dainton is elegant and nuanced as her daughter Gwendolen, working especially well with Claire Westley, making a very impressive community theatre debut as Cecily. The ladies in this show displaying an excellent understanding of the manners of the time.

Rosemary Schultz gives a very solid performance as Miss Prism, and her flirtation with Jeff Watkins, who gives us a very convincing and layered Canon Chasuble, is a highlight of the show. Ray Condy gives us two very different butlers - playing both Lane and Merriman with lovely, understated performances.

While sometimes delivery was not as slick as it could be on the opening weekend, I am sure that this has improved throughout the run, and the audience were having a ball - with comments showing that many in the audience were experiencing and loving this play for the very first time.

Thank you, Roxy Lane, for reviving this classic comedy.

Kimberley Shaw