THIS IS LONDON OCTOBER EDITION 2025 - Flipbook - Page 22
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Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, Olly Alexander, Kitty Hawthorne, Stephen Fry and Jessica
Photos: Marc Brenner
Whitehurst in The Importance of Being Earnest.
he has concealed from unsuitable menabout-town such as Algernon. Algernon,
therefore, is destined to fall in love with
the girl. Whereas Earnest is in love with
Gwendolen, daughter of Lady Bracknell.
He is rejected by Lady B, who says no
progeny of hers will form an alliance with
a parcel.
It's awkward. Although not quite as
awkward as the bickering over cucumber
sandwiches, the noting down of incomes
and the frolics over and around and below
THIS
THIS
IS
LONDON
MAGAZINE
•
Olly Alexander.
THE IMPORTANCE OF
BEING EARNEST Noel Coward Theatre
‘In a hand bag? At Victoria Station?’
Any mildly interested student of Oscar
Wilde’s oeuvre can quote almost the entire
speech emitted by redoubtable matriarch
Lady Bracknell at the beginning of ‘The
Importance…’ The matter concerns the
dubious origins of Mr. Earnest Worthing,
who was adopted as a baby by a kindly
gentleman who found him in Left Luggage
and named him after a first class ticket he
had to the seaside town. It is probably the
funniest moment in the play – especially
so in this National Theatre production,
where the snobbish old bat is played by
national treasure, Stephen Fry.
If the gender switch reminds you of
pantomime, fear not: the rest of the
production is high camp. Olly Alexander
is the overdressed toff, Algernon
Moncrieff. Moncrieff is the inventor of
‘Bunbury-ing’, a not very opaque set of
lies about an imaginary friend, whose
poor health demands frequent attention
out of town. His friend Earnest (Nathan
Stewart-Jarrett) has a pretty young ‘ward’
(of court) who really does exist, but whom
the furniture. Wilde’s play is exquisitely
silly. Max Webster’s direction injects a
tone of hysteria, which may be considered
necessary, given the flimsy
characterisation. We wish to feel involved
– but the people on stage are just acting a
part.
The message is clear: Wilde was
referring to the love between men which
was not acceptable at the time. Indeed
‘The Importance…’ was his last play
before he was imprisoned for indecency.
In case we had not noticed this nuance,
there is a scene in which alphabetised
books are pulled off a library shelf, as in
‘G’, ‘A’, ‘Y’ and so on.
Aside from these cultural notes, the
evening has a lot to entertain us. Hayley
Carmichael delights the crowd with her
impressions of an old retainer so frail, she
can barely keep a teacup upright on a tray.
The costumes are so gorgeous, you might
be at the Moulin Rouge. And the helterskelter jokes are so frequent, you can
expect to smile benevolently throughout.
In short then, a great Christmas show for
all the family.
Sue Webster
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