The Importance of Being Earnest
I didn’t get a chance to see National Theatre’s most recent production of The Importance of Being Earnest in person, but luckily I had the time to see it in cinema during a holiday in Brighton. It felt oddly fitting because Brighton is referenced in the play as the train line on which Jack was found at Victoria Station, though we took a coach…
The Importance of Being Earnest is a classic Oscar Wilde story, where a young man named Jack has been pretending to have a reckless brother, Earnest, so that he can have an excuse to travel into London for a raunchier life than is expected of him as guardian to a ward. However, things get confusing when his London friend learns of his false identity and travels to his home under the alias instead.
What I liked
The production quality from National Theatre is always impressive, and this production was no different. The costuming was gorgeous, especially for Algernon, played by Ncuti Gatawa, whose outfits all felt very high fashion while still remaining related to the period. My favourite was a green floral suit from act 1.
The tone of the production was fun and free, and I especially enjoyed the few fourth wall breaks, because they were enhancing the comedy in the scene, as opposed to randomly thrown in for an easy laugh.
It feels slightly besides the point to talk about the cinema in which I saw the filmed production, but it wouldn’t be too out of place to discuss the theatre that a production is in if I saw it live. So that being said, I think a single screen picture-house in Brighton was 100% the right choice because it is the closest feeling like being in an actual theatre.
What wasn’t my favourite
Though I greatly appreciate that this production did not hide away from the queer subtext in this play, not necessarily surprising from Oscar Wilde, I do think there were some moments where instead of leaning into a queer undertone the direction was throwing it directly at the audience like a slapstick cream pie in the face. It was camp in its own right, so not totally outrageous, but at times a bit random.
Overall
I thought this production was very fun, and had a clear new take on the classic that is The Importance of Being Earnest. It would have been fantastic to see live, but the recorded version did not take away any of the fun and energy of the performances from the cast, and if anything it meant an enhanced ability of appreciating costume and set design.
