Festival Theatre, Malvern – until 5th November 2026
Reviewed by Courie Amado Juneau
5*****
The Important of Being Earnest is very familiar – some would say it’s Wilde’s masterpiece. Being so familiar it runs the risk of becoming commonplace. Which is a shame as it’s a wonderful story and deserves to be presented in an exciting way. Tonight gave us just that!
The story revolves around a brace of women who both fall in love with men they believe are called Earnest. Unbeknownst to them, neither are. This causes confusion, mountains of misunderstandings and misdirection all over the town and countryside and, of course, a lot of memorable one liners.
The art deco set testified to the fact this story had been transplanted from the late Victorian era to the 1920’s. Not a million years apart and yet it felt very different, though still surprisingly natural.
The second of the surprises – and first major one – was the live band on stage playing classic pop tunes in a vaguely jazzy style. I’ve not sold how good it was – because I loved it. The tunes really supported the story arc and the performers looked like they were enjoying themselves enormously too.
I’ve never seen Algernon Moncrief played quite so flamboyantly and it was a credit to Charlie Clee for pulling this off so perfectly. A joyous portrayal that made one fall in love with this charming rogue. The other male lead, John Worthing (aka Earnest), was ably overplayed (in the best possible way) by Lyle Fulton. His exasperation overflowed in all directions but he also gave us pathos and a character we could root for.
Their two leading ladies, Gwendolen and Cecily perfectly complimented each other, their partners and each had their moments in the spotlight to shine. Grace Bassett (Gwendolen) was fabulous but Hannah Brownlie as Cecily was the big revelation – she really sparkled! A sensational performance.
Lady Bracknell must be a scream to play and Anna MacLeod Franklin gave us a commanding performance. A perfectly pitched portrayal which stole almost every scene she graced.
Canon Chasuble and Miss Prism made a very likely unlikely couple and Charlotte Ware (as Prism) really made the most of her stage time. I would like to praise the actor who played the Canon but, unfortunately, there was no programme and printed the cast list didn’t include him.
Last, but not least, the butler Lane (brought to technicolour life by Lachlan McCall) was the star comedy turn – with a lovely deadpan, lugubrious way about him. But also the other characters he played – mostly the staff of the country and town house of Mr Worthing. It was like watching a dynasty of familial servitude; each new character sporting a rather familiar face. Hilarious.
The script kept pretty faithfully to the original (apart from the pop songs) and why not? It’s a home run waiting to be hit. And a home run it was as all concerned gave us a fabulous night’s entertainment. The only disappointment was that the run was so short – leaving me longing for their return! When they do, I implore you to catch this marvellous company – I loved it. One of the best Earnest’s I have ever seen.