Recently I returned to the Shaw Festival for my second of three performances I will be attending this year, and once again I entered the theatre with a bittersweet feeling. Yes, it was good to be back after three years, most of it occupied by Covid. But as I mentioned in my last review from Shaw, being there without Sophie now just seems...well, different.
Perhaps unconsciously this season I made my three choices with Sophie in mind; these three likely would have been the ones she would have wanted to attend, so those were the ones I went with and so far, as usual her likely choices have proven to be most entertaining indeed.
That brings us to The Importance of Being Earnest, the Oscar Wilde play that first premiered on St. Valentine's Day in 1895, just days before a trail began that changed Wilde's life forever and eventually resulted in a sentence of hard labour that ultimately broke him.
The irony is of all of Wilde's plays, this last one stands as perhaps his purest comedy of manners, full of wit as only Wilde could write. There is not much weight here, but the froth is fun, and the sad part is we can only imagine what heights he could have achieved had his personal life not led to his eventual downfall.
Shaw Festival Artistic Director Tim Carroll takes the reigns as director of this production and with a sure hand guides it through the ins and outs of Wilde's clever dialogue, making sure to take advantage of every nuance along the way with a strong, veteran cast of Shaw favourites.
The play, of course, concerns the fortunes of John Worthing, played by Martin Happer, and Algernon Moncrieff, played at the performance I attended by Mike Nadajewski in place of Peter Fernandes. Worthing has an eye for the ladies, well, one in particular, and while in town assumes the name of Ernest as for some reason the woman he wishes to woo thinks it's such a solid, respectable name for a man.
Algernon, meantime, has an imaginary friend named Bunbury who provides Moncrieff with all sorts of opportunities to avoid certain social situations he would rather avoid by simply saying he has to tend to his poor friend Bunbury instead.
Both young men have specific ladies in mind: Worthing has his sights set on the Honourable Gwendolen Fairfax, while Moncrieff eyes the young Cecily Cardew, played at the performance I attended by Olivia Sinclair-Brisbane, filling in for Gabriella Sundar Singh.
Enter into the fray Moncreiff's Aunt, the indomitable Lady Bracknell, played by Shaw stalwart Kate Hennig and possessing an opinion on almost every subject imaginable. It is hard not to think of the Dowager Countess Violet on Downton Abbey while enjoying Lady Bracknell in The Importance of Being Ernest.
Almost without exception the cast is exemplary. Happer's John Worthing has just enough of the rake about him without being over the top, and Nadajewski as Moncrieff makes the most of his lines with his inflections and mannerisms. Both carry the day here in fine form.
Julia Course as Gwendolen Fairfax is suitably refined and Olivia Sinclair-Brisbane has a youthful charm as Cecily Cardew.
The joy of an ensemble with the depth the Shaw Festival possesses is that even when an understudy takes over a pivotal role, as is the case twice with the performance I attended, you don't think of them substituting in that role; they have assumed that role and made it uniquely their own for the time they assume it.
The rest of the cast is strong as well, from Neil Barclay having some musical fun as Lane as the curtain goes up to Graeme Somerville as Merriman and Ric Reid as the very, well, earnest Reverend Canon Chasuble.
The sets are imaginative and fun, thanks to designer Gillian Gallow, and the costumes elegantly reflect the Victorian era, designed by Christina Poddubiuk.
From start to finish the collective tongue is firmly planted in the collective cheek in this new production of The Importance of Being Earnest, and it stands as one of the bright lights of this year's 60th Anniversary Shaw Festival season.
The Importance of Being Ernest plays at the Festival Theatre through to October 9th and rates a strong 3 out of 4.
For tickets or more information go to Shawfest.com.
Have a great weekend!
August 6th, 2022.
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