The Importance of Being Earnest

For such a well-known and well-loved play like The Importance of Being Earnest, you’d expect a production to do its best to hone the show to near perfection, or offer a radical new retelling. Tread The Boards don’t risk adding any novel elements or contemporary twists to Oscar Wilde’s classic comedy of manners. Instead they stick to a by-the-numbers performance of the work which avoids making any huge mistakes, but also has a feeling of resting on Wilde’s laurels.

The lighthearted story of idle, 19th century gentry taking on new names as they travel between London townhouses and country estates has aged well. Though the plot is familiar, the comedy value of the period’s social conventions has only increased.

Trivial as it might seem, Matthew Huntbach, playing Algernon, deserves a mention for cultivating a millimetre-perfect moustache of a Victorian gentleman about town. It sits on top of a performance that conveys all the smarm, pretence and sophistication the character requires. As Algy and the equally well-heeled Jack argue over wooing their respective love interests, he looks every bit the dandyish man of leisure.

Christine Harte is suitably intimidating as Lady Bracknell, but otherwise the cast fail to make the characters their own. The comic moments of upturned noses and offended Victorian manners are delivered well, but most characters aren’t developed to the level such a familiar work demands.

Above all, the quality of the show is a testament to the timelessness of Wilde’s writing rather than any particular innovation on the part of the company.