'The Importance of Being Earnest' by Oscar Wilde
13 July 2022
On Saturday we were at the Roman Theatre of Verulamium in St Albans to see the OVO Theatre open-air production of Oscar Wilde’s ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’. Like their adaptation of ‘The Merry Wives of Windsor’ which we saw at the same venue in 2020 (reviewed here in September 2020) the play was interspersed with live music performed by the cast, this time featuring a jazz band interpreting modern pop songs in a 1920s swing style. The production, directed by Adam Nichols and Matt Strachan and musically directed by Tom Cagnoni, was great fun. ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ is such a brilliant play it would be hilarious if you just read the words directly from the script but an excellent cast added a real panache. Charlie Clee was perfect as Algernon Montcrieff but I thought Paul Manuel almost stole the show as Lane the butler - all the funnier for playing it very straight and drole in the manner of Jeeves, and joining in the musical numbers in a bemused expression. It was a lovely afternoon but the heat was hard work for an outdoor audience with no shade to shelter in. By the second half we had retreated to the back row so we could try to escape the sun under an umbrella - feeling like Cecily and Gwendolen in the garden of Jack Worthing’s country house.
posted by Robin Simpson @ 7:58 pm
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