The New Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham
20th - 25th October 2014
Firstly, it was lovely to see The Alexandra so full! This is probably due to Oscar Wilde's work being so poignant in the development of theatre, The Importance of Being Earnest, 'A Trivial Comedy for Serious People' is said to be the most perfect comedy ever written. Many of us will know the story of The Importance, but I think the audience were quite surprised with the fresh take director, Lucy Bailey, took upon the piece. As an audience our usual signal to quiet down and prepare for the action is the lights going down, however this evening we were met with the entrance of Patrick Godfrey and soon after Nigel Havers in bright red trainers, complaining that the piano recording is supposed to stop before his arrival. Bailey, with the help of Simon Brett, had created a framework around The Importance, essentially a play within a play. Soon the stage was filled with actors, a director, a technician, stage managers, wardrobe, prompters, it was familiar chaos, this was a rehearsal. What the audience was witnessing was The Bunbury Company of Players (BP), an amateur dramatics group, in their final dress rehearsal of their much loved Wilde production, within the house of one of the company's founding members.
This framework was not only portrayed on stage, interestingly it was taken further, in the programme I received on this night it contained a mini programme, that I assume would have been presented on the night of this imaginary performance. Within, it included a full cast list and biography on each character, a piece from director and even a trip to Oscar Wilde bar in London's Cadogan Hotel, by doing this it was almost an extension of the production. I understand that this is a little difficult to get your head around, perhaps the team could have done more to bring this section into the 21st century on stage than just a pair of Nike trainers and the ring of a mobile phone but we must applaud the dedication of the production team to going to such lengths on paper. In addition to this, it allowed for a more mature cast to perform the roles of twenty-something characters, to some disapproval, although Wilde's work being quite fast paced and wordy, it was nice to see the language approached effortlessly that only comes with the more experienced actor. 
Nigel Havers playing both Richard Oldfield of the Bunbury players and Algeron Moncrieff, wooed the ladies as he has done for many years with his charm and flamboyance, along side his co-star Martin Jarvis, the director of BP and the main role of John Worthing. A fun and gripping scene between the jealous, feisty girls Cecily (Christine Kavanagh) and Gwendolen (Cherie Lunghi) had the laughs rolling. Siân Phillips, the rehearsal space owner, Lavinia Spelman practiced the iconic "A handbag!?" line as Lady Bracknell with her usual elegance.As the rehearsal went on gradually the Bunbury players merged with their The Importance characters superbly and we found ourselves submerged within Wilde's world.
The production runs until Saturday 25th October at The Alex.
Review by Ellie Scandrett
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