Review: The Importance of being Earnest

Lisa Chappell wallows in Oscar Wilde's script. Photo / Steven McNicholl

The enduring appeal of Oscar Wilde's masterpiece stems from its remarkable ability to be all things to all people. Subtitled "a trivial comedy for serious people", it has always delighted the social class that it so mercilessly satirises and audiences can never be sure whether the play is a frothy amusement or a disturbing piece of philosophy.

A fondness for paradox enlivens the dazzling word play which has the world's cleverest writer declaring he is sick to death of cleverness, only to find that a retreat into foolishness leads to even more sophisticated levels of cleverness.

Colin McColl's marvellous updating of the play is grounded in a deep respect for the text and a willingness to confront the profound strangeness of the work. His crystal clear direction emphasises the collision of opposites with the town and country contrast throwing light on the deeper dichotomies between truth and fiction, style and sincerity, frivolity and earnestness.

The design team of John Parker and Tony Rabbit find the ideal setting for Wilde's scintillating dialogue in a cool minimalist chic that has vibrant splashes of lime green set against a field of subtly textured white.

The spirit of contradiction permeates the play's unforgettable characters, who become passionately inflamed by the most absurd trivialities but remain studiously flippant at the slightest mention of anything serious.

The balancing act is carried off with panache by a superb cast. Lisa Chappell's performance as a seductive airhead is particularly intriguing as it leaves the audience guessing whether her character's unshakeable self confidence comes from pure vanity or some obscure source of inner strength.

Adam Gardiner's Jack Worthington is a nice amalgam of sophisticated ennui; personal awkwardness and deranged passion, while Laurel Devenie brings an appealing naivety to her study of a buxom country maid who delights in generating reality by writing fictitious entries in her diary.

Elizabeth Hawthorne's Lady Bracknell sees a Cruella de Ville caricature skilfully blended with a highly refined sense of irony and a shrewd eye for the bottom line.

The 60s references work most effectively with Catherine Wilkin's portrayal of a dope-addled intellectual and her dalliance with Cameron Rhodes' unctuous Rector provide some of the production's comic highlights.

What: The Importance of Being Earnest, by Oscar Wilde.
Where: Maidment Theatre until April 3