Evan Rule on the latest production at Ealing's local theatre
Questors Theatre presents this play in its rarely seen, original, four act version and presents it quite magnificently. The plot is very well known. John (Jack/Earnest) Worthing, played superbly by Robert Seatter has been lost as a child and has been raised to a magnificent fortune by Mr Cardew who happened to have a ticket to Worthing in his pocket. He is in love with Gwendolen, played by the feisty Juliet Vaughan Turner, in order to marry he must over come the objections of Lady Bracknell, played manfully by the incomparable Richard Gallagher, who does not want her family allied to a cloak-room whatever the line!
On top of that Algernon, played admirably by Nick Moorhead, Gwendolen’s cousin, decides to go ‘bunburying’ in order to meet Cecily played by the delightful Rebecca Pitt. Both the girls are resolved only to marry an Earnest and objections are only overcome when we discover that Miss Prism, played superbly by the magnificent Anne Neville, was the very nurse who lost the baby in a handbag. When all things are cleared this allows Canon Chasuble, excellently played by Anthony Curran to declare his love for Miss Prism and for Jack to realise the importance of being Earnest.
The four act version contains the additional scene where Mr Gribsby, played by the scarily brilliant James Goodden, presents a writ for £762 14/2d, an enormous sum and to imprison Earnest Worthing for 20 days in Holloway Gaol
Added to this cast are the 2 butlers played by Tony Diggle and Adam Sutcliffe, a superb set, brilliantly lit and a very efficient stage crew to make, yet again, a top class Questors production.
Earnest was the last of Wilde’s plays and is a piece of work of a playwright at the top of his ability. Wilde had taken London society by storm. His plays, Lady Windermere’s Fan, An Ideal Husband, A Woman of No Importance, had been received with great critical acclaim, but he had acquired notoriety with his personal, outrageous life and extravagant life style. He had run up a bill of over £700 at the Savoy with no intention of paying (about £40 000 today). He had also written, in Paris Salome, being on a religious theme there was no way that the Lord Chancellor would allow this to be performed on stage in London. Lastly and fatally, he had upset the Marquess of Queensbury by having an affaire with his Son, Lord Alfred Douglas (Bosie). In August-September 1894, holidaying in Worthing with his wife, Constance and their two sons he settled to write a new play, Lady Lancing, the result was The Importance of being Earnest. Wilde was convinced that his producer, George Alexander, would reject the play, but instead asked for the play to be reduced to three acts in order to incorporate a one act curtain raiser. This Wilde did and the play opened on the 14 th Feb 1895 to cheering audience and great critical acclaim. Hearing that Queensbury was going to attend the opening and cause a commotion, Alexander refused to allow him to have a ticket. He still turned up with a prize fighter in tow and sent a bouquet of vegetables backstage. Four days later he presented the infamous card at the Albemarle Club detailing Wilde as a ‘sodomite’. Urged by Bosie, Wilde sued and lost and within days he himself had been arrested. The infamy was too great and the play closed on the 8 th May and Wilde spent 2 years in Reading Gaol and by 1900 he had died alone and penniless in Paris.
Alexander had gained a reputation as a ‘new producer’, following in the footsteps of the realistic work of Strindberg (Miss Julie 1888). This means real actors, speaking real lines, as though they were not ‘acting’ but more reacting. But this play was full of crafted witticism and had a trivial plot. William Archer reviewing the first night of Earnest remarked ‘What can a poor critic do with a play which raises no principle, whether of art or morals, creates its own canons and conventions, and is nothing but an absolutely wilful expression of an irrepressibly witty personality.’ Indeed that is exactly what the play is and indeed what makes the play so fantastic. The director need not to look to much into the play, yes there may well be ‘gay’ references, but many became ‘gay’ references because of the play. The characters are real characters and Wilde is commenting upon those people. Wilde described the play as ‘A Trivial Play for Serious People’ and it needs to be treated as such. Wilde was a great wit and each line is crafted as such, so the director needs to do no more than that and to allow the play to speak to the audience.
That is exactly what Francis Lloyd has done and that is what makes this a production worth seeing.
Evan Rule
April 17, 2009
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