The Importance of Being Earnest
Theatre Royal Bath
It would be difficult to dream up a more successful way of ruining one of British theatre's most cherished and important comedies than this production which, unbelievably, comes to Bath from London's West End.
It's true that in recent years we have been treated to truly sumptuous performances of Oscar Wilde's most famous play, all of which have had extravagant sets and fabulous costumes.
So, as one looks at this lack lustre show in which a bunch of aging thespians have dragged out The Importance of Being Earnest for another run-through in someone's sitting room, it is difficult not to imagine that the whole thing was designed in order to do this 'trivial comedy for serious people' as Wilde himself called it, on the cheap.
Instead of moving from London flat to manor house garden and then to manor house drawing room the production takes place in a 1930s style sitting room with most of the actors – all in rehearsal costume – well past the age when they would be picked for any conventional performances of the play.
So why was a perfectly good, beautifully written and superbly constructed play turned into this pitiful travesty? Who knows. But it played to a packed house in Bath on Monday night and while there was nothing much to laugh at in the performance of Wilde's original play, the audience seemed to find plenty of amusement where the Bunbury Players' show links embarrassingly with the original.
Veteran actors Nigel Havers and Martin Jarvis provide the male love interests. The one saving grace as far as I could see was in having Sian Phillips as Lady Bracknell who gave us a glimpse of the true delights of a more conventional production.
The play runs until Saturday.
Christopher Hansford
Theatre Royal Bath
It would be difficult to dream up a more successful way of ruining one of British theatre's most cherished and important comedies than this production which, unbelievably, comes to Bath from London's West End.
It's true that in recent years we have been treated to truly sumptuous performances of Oscar Wilde's most famous play, all of which have had extravagant sets and fabulous costumes.
So, as one looks at this lack lustre show in which a bunch of aging thespians have dragged out The Importance of Being Earnest for another run-through in someone's sitting room, it is difficult not to imagine that the whole thing was designed in order to do this 'trivial comedy for serious people' as Wilde himself called it, on the cheap.
Instead of moving from London flat to manor house garden and then to manor house drawing room the production takes place in a 1930s style sitting room with most of the actors – all in rehearsal costume – well past the age when they would be picked for any conventional performances of the play.
So why was a perfectly good, beautifully written and superbly constructed play turned into this pitiful travesty? Who knows. But it played to a packed house in Bath on Monday night and while there was nothing much to laugh at in the performance of Wilde's original play, the audience seemed to find plenty of amusement where the Bunbury Players' show links embarrassingly with the original.
Veteran actors Nigel Havers and Martin Jarvis provide the male love interests. The one saving grace as far as I could see was in having Sian Phillips as Lady Bracknell who gave us a glimpse of the true delights of a more conventional production.
The play runs until Saturday.
Christopher Hansford
