Review: The Importance of Being Earnest

Although I like to think of myself as an Oscar Wilde fan, I’ll confess that I walked into the Rep’s production of The Importance of Being Earnest with absolutely no preconception of the play (and slightly late – but we shan’t dwell on that). My disorientation upon arriving, however, was not induced by my tardiness, but by the effect of the floor, walls and ceiling of the stage being entirely covered in mirrored glass.

At first this threw me, and I wasn’t sure what its effect was other than to somewhat dazzle the audience in what I thought was a gimmick-y way. But, as my theatrical companion pointed out to me in the interval, the mirrors helped to create the illusion of Edwardian grandeur on the stage with a fairly minimal use of props, and clever staging.

Tyson channeled Maggie Smith’s Dowager Countess from Downton, espousing her infallible view of the world with absolute disregard for its nonsensical logic.

Another great feature of the production’s staging was the frame of light surrounding the stage, drawing attention to the play’s observational nature. Wilde satirises and ridicules the propriety of the upper classes, and the lies and suspension of reality which such “propriety” can lead to; the frame of light further encouraged the audience to be aware of the picture of society they were observing.

The play is comedic to its core, but special recognition must be given to Dominic Gately and Cathy Tyson in their portrayals of Dr Chasuble (Jack Worthing’s local priest) and Lady Bracknell (Algernon Moncrieff’s aunt). Gately’s posture was as funny as his delivery, with his character’s awkwardness being emphasised through an almost uncomfortable self-awareness at being on stage – a performance which could only appear so convincing when delivered by an actor clearly at ease on stage. Tyson, meanwhile, channeled Maggie Smith’s Dowager Countess from Downton, espousing her infallible view of the world with absolute disregard for its nonsensical logic. Both performers certainly drew the biggest laughs of the night.

This was an incredibly well-executed and finely tuned production.

Physical humour also played an important part in the performance. One particularly memorable scene came after both Moncrieff (Edward Franklin) and Worthing (Fela Lufadeju) had been outed as not-Ernest. As Worthing expressed frustration about his current predicament, Moncrieff proceeded to gorge himself on muffins; naturally, the muffins acted as the catalyst for an on-stage chase between the two men. The hilarity, though, also cleverly represented to the audience just how difficult it was for people to express their true feelings, and respond in an honest manner, in Victorian and Edwardian times.

Overall, this was an incredibly well-executed and finely tuned production, which simultaneously bombarded the audience with humour whilst simultaneously offering them a lot of food for thought for the train ride home. The production runs until Saturday 24^th September, and tickets can be found here – http://www.birmingham-rep.co.uk/event/the-importance-of-being-earnest-04-2016/.