Oscar Wilde‘s satiric play, The Importance of Being Earnest, is a “Trivial Comedy for Serious People”. South Australia’s State Theatre Company have sprinkled their own flavours into this delicious mix. The best way to describe the event would be queer and quirky – in the most over-the-top camp way imaginable.
The plot begins with Jack Worthington, who becomes Ernest when he visits the city to see his friend Algernon. Both are confirmed bachelors, however Ernest is in love with Gwendolen, Algernon’s cousin. Meanwhile, Gwendolen’s mother, Lady Bracknell, disapproves of this union. This is no love triangle, but more of a love trapezoid. Perhaps Wilde was the original soap opera writer.
Director Petra Kalive has taken the inspired step of having singer Carla Lippis open proceedings with a couple of songs. She is dressed in her trademark Weimar cabaret look: pinstriped suit, jet-black hair, red lipstick, and black leather boots. Algernon then enters (played to rakish perfection by Anna Linder) after playing the piano offstage. “Did you hear what I was playing, Lane?” Lippis is now Algernon’s stiff butler Lane. “I didn’t think it polite to listen, sir”. Algernon’s reply that “anyone can play accurately — but I play with wonderful expression…” is a metaphor of modern self-indulgence. I think they call it Looksmaxxing these days.
The first act takes place in the lavishly decorated morning-room in Algernon’s London flat. Cucumber sandwiches have been prepared for his Aunt, Lady Bracknell and his cousin Gwendolen’s arrival. Algernon’s friend Jack (Ernest) drops in unexpectedly. Aglernon has Jack’s cigarette case, which he left behind on his last visit. It is engraved “With love to Uncle Jack from little Cecily”. Ernest (played by a charming Teddy Dunn) explains to Algernon that he has invented a brother, Ernest, to escape his country life, and he has a young ward, Cecily, who is an heiress that he has been supporting. Pia Gillings plays Cecily with charm, with a hint of sass, while Connor Pullinger is deliciously camp as the young Gwendolen Fairfax, who is waiting for Ernest to propose.
Set and Costume Designer Kathryn Sproul has created a world that transcends modern and traditional landscapes. The revolving set allows the action to evolve from the London morning room to a country garden. The lavish costumes immediately add a sense of whimsical timeliness to proceedings. Lady Bracknell (played with aplomb by Glenda Linscott) is dressed in a schoolmasterish style, perfectly defining her rigid upper-class values. Algernon’s flaming red hair and orange suit puts him square in the class of comic book supervillain. Cecily is pink and demure, while the confident Gwendolen is in a stylish floor-length blue evening gown, complete with black Converse highs.
There’s a side story with Miss Prism, played charmingly by Nathan O’Keefe, and Rev. Canon Chasuble (Caroline Mignone) having a repressed love attraction. Wilde loved exposing the duality of life, the public image that everyone portrays versus the life behind the mask. This has been captured cleverly with a variety of gender reversals in actors playing roles.
The play works as a whole with the combination of withering wit and sharp observations on social life, with a modern adaptation that keeps the play true to form with fresh ideas. The actors were melodic in delivering their lines, with a physical charm that ventured somewhere between slapstick and synchronised swimming. The laughs were plentiful and natural.
The State Theatre Company have delivered a deliciously entertaining adaptation of a masterful play.
FIVE STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
The reviewer attended the Opening Night performance on 12 May
The Importance of Being Earnest plays at Adelaide’s Dunstan Playhouse until 30th May
Dates and Tickets on the website
Note that there are special audio-described performances for the vision impaired and captioned performances for the hearing impaired
Featured image of Carla Lippis from Adelaide Festival Centre Website
