Earnest activity

4/5

THE current adaptation of Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest provides just the right ingredients for audiences to leave with a warm, festive glow. Moving the play to the 1930s demonstrates how timeless the humour of one of the country's most renowned playwrights is, with his observations of society reaching a crescendo of confusion, wit and hilarity.

This is a tale of two young men whose double lives backfire when they fall in love with two women with an unusual partiality to the name Earnest.

Jack Worthing courted Gwendolen in the city using the name Earnest while Algernon Moncrieff, in an attempt to steal the heart of Jack's ward, Cecily, pretends to be Jack's brother, Earnest.

Janet Hargreaves almost steals the show as Gwendolen's mother, Lady Bracknell. Overdressed in long skirts, a fitted coat, hat and fox fur, her objections to her daughter marrying Jack are superbly delivered.

She is horrified at the very idea of her daughter marrying a man who should be careless enough to lose not one but both parents and resolute her daughter will not marry a man with no family background, having been found as a baby in a handbag.

Maybe Lady Bracknell's stage presence is due to Jonathan Hansler's portrayal of Jack being more than earnest. He is almost a drivelling wimp who needs a strong hand to buck his ideas up. An opinion shared, it would seem, by a sensuous Gwendolen, played by Victoria Lawrence.

The beautiful blonde Gwendolen is street-wise and clever, with few qualms in expressing her passion for Jack, whose very name (Earnest) makes her tingle.

Contrast her to the youthful Cecily, who is bored by academia and spends most of her time writing her romantic notions in her diary including being engaged to "Earnest" three months before they actually meet.

Their battle over who is actually engaged to Earnest puts today's cat-fights to shame. In a verbal showdown, they manage to put each other down far more victoriously than ramming their nails into each other's cheeks and look far less dishevelled for it.

The director, Bruce Jamieson, has been successful in using the small theatre to full advantage.

The audience is drawn into the plot so it feels part of the show and the cast's use of eye contact and facial expressions puts even more force behind the words.

For a feel-good experience where you walk home with a skip and a glow inside, just pop down to the Greenwich Playhouse.

q Until January 13, The Importance of Being Earnest, Greenwich Playhouse, Greenwich High Road, Tues to Sat, 7.45pm, £10/£7 cons, 020 8858 9256.

December 21, 2001 16:00