A Trivial Comedy For Serious People
By Oscar Wilde
Directed by Max Webster
Set & costume by Rae Smith
The Lyttelton Theatre
National Theatre
Saturday 30th November 2024, 14.30
High Skinner- Jack Worthing
Ncuti Gatwa – Algernon Moncrieff
Sharon D. Clark – Lady Bracknell
Ronkẹ Adékọluẹ́jọ́ – Gwendolen Fairfax
Eliza Scanlon – Cecily Gardew
Richard Cant – Canon Chasuble
Amanda Lawrence – Miss Prism
Julian Bleach – Merriman / Lane
Ronkẹ Adékọluẹ́jọ́ ‘s Seven accents is too much for any name. I’ll have to cut and paste it!
Before the review …
First, The National Theatre. It was a major surprise when they decided to do it. The National has been a powerhouse for new plays (and American plays) but thin on the classics of the British theatre. I see their point on Shakespeare, with The Globe just along the South Bank, and the Royal Shakespeare Company visiting the Barbican. They strenuously avoid the likes of Oliver Goldsmith, Oscar Wilde, Noël Coward, Terence Rattigan and Alan Ayckbourn, leaving that to Bath and Chichester, who will then move them to the West End (currently playing Bath’s Deep Blue Sea). The Importance of Being Earnest ranks to me as the greatest post-Shakespeare English comedy. The last time it appeared in London in a major professional production was Classic Spring in 2018. It’s a play where I know every line before it arrives. That means it needs something extra to keep me laughing.
Before we got there, my interest was drawn to the list of FIVE ensemble players. I’m always iffy on the Nationals ‘loadsamoney’ aspect, never having to cut their cloth in the same way as provincial theatres. One reason why the play has been beloved for productions is that the cast is just eight, four men, four women, assuming that Lane and Merriman is doubled (which is standard). The National, running to the end of January needs understudies, and they’d prefer to have something to do. How were they going to do it?
Another question was that Lyttelton stage. Wide? No, incredibly wide. They placed a proscenium arch stage with curtains in the middle, echoing the Vaudeville Theatre that Wilde used. The handbag is suspended in the middle.
I have my doubts that this is a real crest … carrots, pumpkin, mushroom and Prince of Wales feathers?
The review
I’m assuming you know the story and the characters. It was a delight at the National to have many younger people near us hearing some of these lines for perhaps the first time, and in tears of laughter.
The big draw was Ncuti Gatwa, aka Dr Who. We haven’t seen him as Dr Who, but we have seen him as Jack Absolute in The Rivals and as Demetrius in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. He became famous on TV as the young gay character Eric in Sex Education on Netflix. He is an incredibly charismatic actor, with a smile that can light the biggest theatre.
The programme notes are very good. I never knew there was a deleted act at the Savoy Hotel, but they note that they have revived Wilde’s preferred four act structure, with an interval after two acts. This is unusual as it moves the initial garden scene into the first half … the National can afford the rapid and complex set change which is repeated from garden to house in the second part. That rebalances the play, as usually the need to switch the set from London to the country necessitates breaking after Act One, leaving a longer second part which is not audience-friendly. We loved the added line from Hugh Skinner at the second of the major set changes (when he and Ncuta Gatwa were sat a table front of curtain), ‘They’ll have changed the set by now.’ It’s not the only breaking the fourth wall aside.
So to the ensemble. One is used as a gardener, then two as servants to bring the tea to Cecily and Gwendolyn. That’s the normal way to engage the understudies. There is more …
The opening has Algernon in a split pink gown at a piano with a wild gay male party scene. Reviews suggest that it’s a kind of Pride Day production. Not really. They stick to the lines. It’s clear that all the four young ones are played as bisexual, but there are no intrusive lines. The play was always coded, and the programme notes help. We’ve seen an Algernon kiss the butler, Lane, on the lips before … and it doesn’t happen here. I’m reminded of a man we bought a house from. He explained his vermilion and purple curtains as ‘flamboyant, which I love, without veering into the vulgar or garish.’ I guess that sums up the production. We lived with those curtains for five years (and while I began to think they did creep into garish, they weren’t vulgar.)
Hugh Skinner plays Jack Worthing, sporting Oscar Wilde’s green carnation buttonhole. Micheál Mac Liammóir wore one when he presented his The Importance of Being Oscar when I was at Hull though he added lipstick and eye shadow. He did a separate chat for the drama department and friends had to take him to lunch in central Hull. It wasn’t a local fashion.
Hugh Skinner does some superb physical stuff, curling up on sofas, crawling under chairs. We wondered how anyone could avoid being eclipsed by Gatwa’s massive personality. He does. What a double act these two are! They work perfectly together, a masterclass in reactive acting and feeding each other the line moments.
It is not colour blind. The three related characters, Lady Bracknell, her daughter Gwendolen, and her nephew Algernon, are all actors of colour and they play it that way, not in a neutral manner. By the time we get to the revelation at the end, that Algernon and Jack are brothers, we’re too far into it to wonder about it at all. After all, we should also realize at that point that Jack and Gwendolyn will also be first cousins but no one ever thinks about it.
Lady Bracknell is played by Sharon D. Clarke. You need to get out from under Dame Edith Evans mighty shadow in this role. Some disappoint … we watched Penelope Keith reproduce the Edith Evans. I’ve seen it done beautifully by Rain & Shine, playing Lady Bracknell as about forty and sexy (which fits the text). Then in 2015, David Suchet did Lady Bracknell, which also gave the role a twist. This might be the biggest yet. Sharon D. Clarke plays it as a snooty Afro-Caribbean matriarch, complete with Caribbean accent.
It gives power to the part. Lines come out in a fresh way. She delivers ‘a handbag’ totally differently from the Evans hoot. She’s not some ancient snob, she is mature, not old, and she is terrifying. As of this morning, the best Lady Bracknell I’ve ever seen.
Ronkẹ Adékọluẹ́jọ́ is Gwendolen Fairfax. She’s sexier, more physical than usual. She utilises the technique of suddenly dropping into a deeper louder voice, and she is her mother’s daughter.
You have to differentiate Lane and Merriman. Julian Bleach is unrecognisable in the switch from Algernon’s superior butler (surely a model for Jeeves) and the ancient retainer in footman’s garb in the country. The young snooty / old and feeble switch is normal, but done so well here.
Then we get to Cecily. If you read my other reviews of The Importance you will find out that it is a role that not only Karen, but I have played.
Karen has played Cecily and she has also played Gwendolen, so watches with a critical eye. She loved them both here, and at last they got the full humour from the tea party scene between them. Younger actresses can do the gestures and facial expressions beloved of their generation, and they do. There is an effort to keep up the LGBT+ mood up by having hints that Cecily and Gwendolen fancy each other, a near kiss, fluttered hands, glances. It was funny, and not obtrusive, but somewhat shoehorned in as if to cover all bases.
Amanda Lawrence as Miss Prism looked the part more than anyone I’ve seen. She was put with Richard Cant as Canon Chasuble. I don’t think the reverend gentleman has had to conceal an erection with his hat before.
Actually that’s not the end. They go for the classic Royal Shakespeare Company & Globe return and dance ending … that involves yet another set, and all of them dancing with the ensemble in underclothes with feathers and boas to an instant standing ovation.
The sets and costumes are hyper-real nods to the era. The ecstatic reviews say it … a triumphant colourful and hilarious revival of the greatest comedy. It’s playing until the end of January 2025. It’s expensive. It’s worth every penny. One of the best productions of 2024.
OVERALL
5 stars *****
THE PROGRAMME / TEXT
The programme is excellent, but I wish the NT would stop those plain matt covers. It’s a silly attempt to look as if they’re economizing and saving the planet, but when you have full colour inside, that’s nonsense. It’s a bit like Foyles wanting 25p for a paperback book ‘to save the planet.’ Just one copy of The Guardian on Saturday would make you 100 bags.
They sell the text with the poster on the front. Given that it’s out of copyright, that is a financial treat for the NT. However, we have nine copies of the Penguin Plays edition with the parts highlighted, so I wasn’t tempted. However it still has three acts in the text. It is NOT as done this time around.
WHAT THE CRITICS SAID
five star
Patrick Marmion, Daily Mail *****
Broadway World *****
London Theatre Review *****
Neil Durham, Monstagigz *****
four star
Arifa Akbar, Guardian ****
Clive Davis, The Times ****
Nick Curtis, Standard ****
Alice Saville, Independent ****
Fiona Mountford, iNews ****
Andrzej Lukowski Time Out ****
Stephen Bates, Reviews Hub **** 1/2
three star
Domenic Cavendish, Telegraph ***
Sarah Crompton, What’s On Stage ***
Sam Marlowe, The Stage ***
LINKS ON THIS BLOG
THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST
Importance of Being Earnest 2010 by Oscar Wilde, Rain or Shine Company
Importance of Being Earnest 2014 by Oscar Wilde, West End & Tour, directed by Lucy Bailey
Importance of Being Earnest, 2015 by Oscar Wilde with David Suchet as Lady Bracknell
Importance of Being Earnest 2018 by Oscar Wilde, Classic Spring Theatre
Importance of Being Earnest, 2019 by Oscar Wilde, Watermill Theatre
The Importance of Being … Earnest? by Say itAgain. Sorry? MAST Southampton
MAX WEBSTER (Director)
Much Ado About Nothing, Globe 2014
NCUTI GATWA
The Rivals, Watermill 2018 (Jack Absolute)
A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Globe 2016 (Demetrius)
Sex Education (TV series)
Barbie (film)
SHARON D. CLARKE
Caroline or Change, Chichester 2017 (Caroline)
HUGH SKINNER
Therese Raquin, Bath 2014 (Camille)
RONKE ADEKOLUEJO
Blues For An Alabama Sky, National, 2022
RICHARD CANT
The Vortex, Chichester 2023
Henry VI- Wars of The Roses, RSC 2022
Henry VI- Rebellion, RSC 2022
Edward II, by Marlowe, Wanamaker 2019
My Night With Reg, Kevin Elyot, West End 2015
AMANDA LAWRENCE
Nell Gwynn, Globe 2015
JULIAN BLEACH
The English (Netflix series)
Peter Viney's Blog 
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