Darlington Hippodrome – until Thursday 16th July 2026
Reviewed by Adam Craddock
3***
Last night I had the privilege of being invited along to the lovely Darlington Hippodrome to review the latest stop on the 2026 UK Tour of Micheál Mac Liammóir’s play “The Importance of Being Oscar”. The play is a one man show taking you through the life and notable moments of the historic poet and playwright Oscar Wilde. We follow Wilde all the way through his life, from his roots in Dublin, passing through his highs in London and lows in the famous Reading Gaol and ultimately ending up with him in his final days in Paris. I must confess I only knew the vary basics of Oscar Wilde’s story so I was very much looking forward to finding out more about this notable historic figure.
Alastair Whatley takes on the starring role as the performer, narrating us through the story and embodying Wilde to perfection. Whatley is a master of his craft, with the ability to hold an audience in the palm of his hand alone for 45 minutes per act, never once stopping to break or losing the audiences focus. Whatley’s Wilde was a deeply human performance, never descending into over dramatism past what would be expected of someone playing Oscar Wilde and his mannerisms were subtle and true. Whatley was directed by Michael Fentiman and I think this has worked out to be a brilliant pairing of craftsmen. Fentiman’s ideas of how Wilde is built are clear and I loved the staging of “The Ballad of Reading Gaol”. In terms of set and costume they were simple but appropriate, with Whatley wearing a period suit and the set focusing around a ring of light, this telling us when Whatley is himself and when he is Wilde… mostly. I did like this device but the light did not always keep up with the performer, sometimes making this slightly confusing as to what we are meant to be imagining. The show did also suffer from some patchy microphones at first. There was use of an echo effect which worked at times but also seemed to randomly come and go on its own at times. I must also note in terms of audience enjoyment that the light was far too bright for the dark theatre we were in, with my partner and I, as well as several neighbouring theatre goers all noting at the interval that we were slightly pained and had this ring of light burnt into our vision, I think the sharpness of this could do with being turned down slightly.
Overall I had an enjoyable evening, particularly in terms of the performance itself and should the couple of technical issues be sorted I would think that this play is on to a winner. If you are like me and know little of Oscar Wilde then this is a great introduction to his fabulous story.