A TRIVIAL COMEDY FOR SERIOUS PEOPLE
When all seven of London’s major papers give a show the highest rating possible, I’m infused with frustration that I couldn’t be on the other side of the pond. Especially when it’s Oscar Wilde’s classic play The Importance of Being Earnest. Written shortly before Wilde fell afoul of society’s unbending condemnation (meaning jailed for being gay), Earnest fizzes with wit as Wilde delights in debunking social pretensions. Two bachelor friends, upper crust dandy Algernon Moncrieff and the most reliable John Worthing J.P., lead double lives to court the attentions of the desirable Gwendolyn Fairfax and Cecily Cardew. The gallants must then grapple with the uproarious consequences of their ruse, and with the formidable Lady Bracknell.
Earnest has been revived many times since its premiere on February 14, 1895 at the St James Theatre in London. It has also been adapted for the cinema on three occasions. Now for one night only, you can see Poirot star David Suchet as Lady Bracknell in this much loved masterpiece, which is now open to rave reviews at the Vaudeville Theatre, London for a strictly limited season.
This sold-out production plays U.S. movie theaters on Tuesday, November 3, 2015 at 7:00 p.m. local time, presented by Fathom Events and More2Screen. To mark the 120th anniversary of this iconic play, it was captured live on October 8, 2015, at the Vaudeville. In addition to the play, the event will feature exclusive behind-the-scenes footage and an interview with Suchet. Lady Bracknell is arguably the greatest creation of Wilde’s surpassingly fertile comic imagination; she is the aristocratic and imperious dowager who could make single words like “Found!” and simple questions like “In a handbag?” sound like the essence of wit.
Directed by Adrian Noble, (Amadeus, The King’s Speech, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang) Wilde’s superb satire on Victorian manners is one of the funniest plays in the English language – the delightful repartee and hilarious piercing of hypocrisy and pomposity can still make you laugh out loud.
photos by Nobby Clark
The Importance of Being Earnest
Vaudeville Theatre in London
screens at U.S. movie theaters
presented by Fathom Events and More2Screen
Tuesday November 3, 2015 at 7pm
for theater locations and prices, visit Fathom Events