ABOUT THE PLAY

 

John “Jack” Worthing, a carefree young gentleman, is the inventor of a fictitious brother, “Earnest,” whose wicked ways afford Jack an excuse to leave his country home from time to time and journey to London, where he stays with his close friend and confidant, Algernon Moncrief. Algernon has a cousin, Gwendolen Fairfax, with whom Jack is in love. During his London sojourns, Jack, under the name Earnest, has won Gwendolen’s love, for she strongly desires to marry someone with the confidence-inspiring name of Earnest. But when he asks for Gwendolen’s hand from her mother, the formidable Lady Bracknell, Jack finds he must reveal he is a foundling who was left in a handbag at Victoria Station. This is very disturbing to Lady Bracknell, who insists that he produce at least one parent before she consents to the marriage.

Returning to the country home where he lives with his ward Cecily Cardew and her governess Miss Prism, Jack finds that Algernon has also arrived under the identity of the non-existent brother Earnest. Algernon falls madly in love with the beautiful Cecily, who has long been enamoured of the mysterious, fascinating brother Earnest.

With the arrival of Lady Bracknell and Gwendolen, chaos erupts and questions (and answers) emerge about Jack’s birth and family. How this classic comedy sorts itself out is sure to delight!

 

 

 

CAST AND CREATIVE

 

John Worthing -  J.P.Michael Benz

Algernon Moncrieff - Philip Cumbus

Rev. Canon Chasuble, D.D. - Richard O’Callaghan

Merriman, Butler - Brendan Hooper

Lane, Manservant - David Killick

Lady Bracknell - David Suchet

Hon. Gwendolen Fairfax - Emily Barber

Cecily Cardew - Imogen Doel

Miss Prism, Governess - Michele Dotrice

Understudies - Charlotte Blackledge, Pamela Hardman, Mark Hammersley, Brendan Hooper

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Director - Adrian Noble

Set And Costume Designer - Peter Mckintosh

Associate Set Designer - Simon Anthony Wells

Lighting Designer - Howard Harrison

Music - Larry Blank

Sound Designer - Gareth Owen

Associate Sound Designer - Mike Thacker

Casting Director - Gabrielle Dawes

Movement - Jack Murphy

 

QUOTES

 

★★★★           The Times, 

★★★★           The Guardian

★★★★           The Independent

★★★★           Daily Mail,

★★★★           Evening Standard

★★★★           Daily Express

★★★★           Sunday Express

★★★★           The Stage

 

Dominic Maxwell - The Times

Laugh-out-loud Funny..All-out joy

 

Michael Billington - The Guardian

A magnificent performance

Majestically funny

 

Daily Telegraph

 “David Suchet’s Lady Bracknell Leads a Sparkling Cast in the Joyful Wilde Revival”

"David Suchet gives a magnificent, stage-filling performance as Lady Bracknell." 

★★★★

The Guardian

"A superb performance by Suchet... even Lady Bracknell contains a certain impishness beneath her elegantly frocked hauteur." 

★★★★

The Times

"The brief moments when her power overwhelms her... are divine." 

★★★★

The Times

"His voice... contained yet combustible." 

★★★★

The Independent

"David Suchet shines as Lady Bracknell." 

★★★★

The Independent

"A highly entertaining production." 

★★★★

The Stage

"This strong production adds up to more than gimmicky casting." 

★★★★

The Stage

"Adrian Noble's strongly cast production digs below the play's own surfaces." 

★★★★

Time Out

"Wilde's warhorse gets a bit of new life thanks to a dragged-up David Suchet." 

★★★★

Time Out

Recommended.

★★★★

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THE TIMES (Dominic Maxwell)

DAVID SUCHET’S LADY BRACKNELL LEADS A

SPARKLING CAST IN THIS JOYFUL WILDE REVIVAL

It’s not often we see David Suchet playing for laughs, but he seizes the opportunity with both lacy-gloved hands here to play a marvellously monstrous Lady Bracknell in this thoroughly frisky revival. that it can match this will-to-power drag act. After all, everyone here is trying to be something they’re not: be it Philip Cumbus’s wearily droll Algy or Michael Benz’s more Tiggerish Jack, both of whose elaborate double lives will come to be tested and ruined as Other men have played Oscar Wilde’s the night goes on great gorgon — Geoffrey Rush and Gyles Brandreth both tackled the role in 2011. Here, Suchet is part Olivier’s Richard III, part Jurassic Park velociraptor in a lilac frock as the venomously opinionated auntie from hell. His voice high, but not falsetto, contained yet combustible, he spits out the word “Bayswater” as if its moment in his mouth has actually injured him. Bracknell’s need to control is everything, and the brief moments when her power overwhelms her — at one moment she huffs and puffs, steps backwards and forwards, to become simultaneously matador and bull — are divine. It’s a big turn, but one that stops short of pantomime dame. Suchet roots Bracknell’s exaggerated sense of propriety in her own humble background. The rest of Adrian Noble’s production is sufficiently loaded with a sense of the need for love, beneath the characters’ ultra-witty exteriors, And actually it’s the outdoor, Bracknell- free second act that is the all-out joy. Imogen Doel’s Cicely is a childlike, changeable ingénue in a summer frock, who becomes a hurricane of hormones at the sight of the electric- haired Algy. She clashes exquisitely with Emily Barber’s hard-posing city-girl Gwendolyn, to ensure some gloriously revved-up comedy. Brilliant, contrasting performances. Both couples are palpably hot for each other, as are Miss Prism (Michele Dotrice) and the Rev Chasuble (Richard O’Callaghan). Cicely and Algy all but rut on Jack’s garden table. So while the first act is a gentle opening — more smiles than chortles as Wilde establishes his lovely, loopy plot — after a while this mix of silly and sincere becomes laugh-out-loud funny. Cumbus crams muffins into his mouth hilariously, yet also conveys beautifully the moment he realises he actually loves Cicely, it’s not just his usual clever guff. Shame that Gwendolyn and Cicely have so little to do in Act Three— anyone got the playwright’s number for a tweak? — but Suchet’s return brings an air of agitation that helps to sustain a furious pace till the end. He pulls off his cross-dressing a treat, but really, happily, it’s an ensemble triumph. Big fun.

 

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From Nica

Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest is one of my favourite

plays. I love the wit, the wonderful laughs and the fantastic, dotty

characters. I’ve always longed to produce it and was delighted when my

friend, producer Kim Poster, with whom I produced Long Day’s Journey into Night starring David Suchet, came up with the idea that he should play Lady Bracknell. We were very proud of our production of Long Day’s Journey into Night, which won the Olivier Award for Best Revival in 2013, but afterwards David said he felt his next play should be a comedy. Kim’s idea of David playing Lady Bracknell was so utterly delicious that it had to happen. We were lucky that the brilliant Adrian Noble was available to direct and we then set about the

joy of casting an incredibly talented company of actors. So sit back and enjoy a light-hearted, enchanting evening from the pen of the great Oscar Wilde.

Nica Burns

Chief Executive and co-owner

Nimax Theatres Ltd