The Importance of Being Earnest starring David Suchet is playing in London this summer at the Vaudeville Theater. The theater is located on The Strand, in central London.
The Importance of Being Earnest is a play by Oscar Wilde, first appearing in 1895. Wilde was an Irish author, playwright and poet.
Aside from his popular plays he also wrote the novel The Picture of Dorian Gray. The play is centered around a complicated love triangle, which becomes ever more precarious as the history of the main protagonists is revealed. The underlying theme is a satire on marriage and the narrative mocks Victorian traditions and social customs. Many of the mocked rules and rituals are incorporated into the character of Lady Bracknell.
The basic story concerns two bachelors, John ‘Jack’ Worthing and Algernon ‘Algy’ Moncrieff, who create alter egos named Ernest to escape their tiresome lives. Dipping in and out of these alternative “Ernest” characters they attempt to woo two young women. In Victorian times “earnestness” was considered to be a desirable societal value, which the play cruelly mocks.
Featuring in the lead is David Suchet, an actor perhaps best known for playing Agatha Christie’s detective Hercule Poirot in a string of well-received television adaptations. Suchet plays the Lady Bracknell character and he pulls it off artfully, capturing the fussy mannerism of an upper class Victorian woman who seeks to dictate her unwavering social values on the younger generation. This is the first time, as an actor, that Suchet, now aged 69, has played the part of a woman.
For the performance the 690-seat theater was almost full, with a buzz of excitement. By the end Suchet was given a standing ovation. The other actors also delivered fine performances and displayed on-key comic timing, especially the actors Imogen Doel and Philip Cumbus. The actors were supported by some fine direction Adrian Noble, who is the former Artistic Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company.
The play is full of much quotable dialogue, which demonstrates Wilde’s brilliance as a playwright. For example:
All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No man does, and that is his.
The good ended happily, and the bad unhappily. That is what Fiction means.
And:
I do not approve of anything that tampers with natural ignorance. Ignorance is like a delicate exotic fruit; touch it and the bloom is gone. The whole theory of modern education is radically unsound. Fortunately in England, at any rate, education produces no effect whatsoever.
The Vaudeville Theater is a charming venue, characteristic of several of London’s mid-sized live arts venues. The theater first opened in 1870. Although it has been through several refits much of its Victorian charm remains.
The Digital Journal rating is 5 out of 5 for the new revival of Wilde’s play; a sunny production just right for the summer.
