The dependable Jack Worthing, J.P., a pillar of the Hertfordshire community, is profoundly in love with the prim Gwendolyn Fairfax, daughter to the imposing Lady Bracknell. Read more …
Jack’s closest friend, the dashing aristocratic playboy Algernon Moncrieff, is besotted with Jack’s ward, the beautiful (and extremely wealthy) Cecily Cardew.
Sadly for both suitors, however, Gwendolyn and Cecily are in love with someone else. Someone called Ernest.
All is not lost, however, as it seems that Ernest bears a striking resemblance to Jack – and, somewhat bizarrely, also to Algy. Hardly surprising, given that Ernest is an imaginary “brother” invented by Jack to allowing him to woo Gwendolyn in disguise - and also an alter ego that Algy assumes to pay court to Cecily under Jack’s very nose.
But when a series of revelations concerning handbags, nannies, novels, prams, lost babies and Victoria Station threaten to unravel Jack and Algy’s web of deception, the men are forced to reveal their true identities – or are they . . ?
A lively, lavish, and slightly over-the-top production.
If Wilde is guilty of anything, it's of investing them with more intelligence than they deserve in this timelessly ribald exploration of the unbearable lightness of being.
Just as the Irish dandy was an unlikely revolutionary in a velvet smoking jacket, so The Importance Of Being Earnest is a satirical iron fist clad in a reassuring satin glove.
Wilde’s deeply serious confection is played out against the backdrop of Ken Harrison’s elegantly detailed scenery designs, which are chewed with relish by Preece and the other members of the ensemble.
Pitlochry Festival Theatre, Pitlochry from Thursday July 23, 2015, until Friday October 16, 2015. More info: www.pitlochry.org.uk
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