A Wilde night at Oscar’s
THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST ★★★★ Vaudeville Theatre, until October 20. Tickets: 020 7400 1257
THE grand finale of Dominic Dromgoole’s attractive if variable Oscar Wilde season is the playwright’s most popular play and one of the most perfect comedies ever written in the English language.
The Importance Of Being Earnest is rarely off the stage so what can a new production bring that we haven’t seen before?
Well, an unusually eccentric Lady Bracknell for a start. Sophie Thompson’s vowel-gargling, register-defying performance is exceptionally funny as she swoops from soprano to tenor across a line.
Pippa Nixon’s Gwendolen and Fiona Button’s Cecily deliver uncorseted performances of simmering sexuality in the most amusing fashion while Jacob Fortune-Lloyd’s Jack and Fehinti Balogun’s Algy are a well-matched brace of friends, the former’s upright rectitude rubbing up against the latter’s louche bisexuality with a wit that strikes sparks.
Director Michael Fentiman dials up the volume and the pace with some loss of subtlety but the laughs still derive from Wilde which can only be a good thing.
But he fabricates a gay subplot about Algy having an affair with his manservant Lane (the terrific Geoffrey Freshwater) and, unacceptably, has added a few lines to Wilde’s text to support his modifications. And a homoerotic painting on his wall would have given Lady Bracknell a fit of the vapours.
But the compensations are considerable. The heightened artificiality of the tone is ameliorated in the second act with the delightful hesitancy between Miss Prism (a peerless Stella Gonet) and Jeremy Swift’s ardent Canon Chasuble.
Best of all, the ultimate confrontation between Lady Bracknell and Miss Prism has real dramatic weight (“Prism! Where is that baby?”).
Rarely have I felt so keenly the dreadful import of the loss of a child through “a moment of mental abstraction”.
In this moment, Fentiman gets it absolutely right.
BRING IT ON – THE MUSICAL ★★★★ Southwark Playhouse, until September 1. Tickets: 020 7407 0234
PSST! If you want to spot the next generation of musical stars, get down to Southwark asap. The young performers of The British Youth Academy are killing it in this Broadway musical about cheerleaders and teenage rivalry.
It is based on the 2000 movie and its four sequels and tells the tale of cheerleader captain Campbell (Robyn McIntyre) who is unexpectedly relocated from her posh high school to the rough, tough Jackson High School where the pupils have a hip-hop crew instead of a cheerleading squad.
Can Campbell convince the gang of cool kids to take part in the national cheerleading competition and trounce her deadly rival Eva (Sydnie Hocknell)? Not telling.
There is plenty to distract one’s attention from the predictable storyline. The creative combo of writer Jeff Whitty, composer Tom Kitt, lyricist Amanda Green and the unstoppable Lin-Manuel Miranda deliver an unprecedented number of witty and vibrant songs all performed with passion and gusto.
On an almost bare stage lined with a row of pink and beige lockers, director/choreographer Ewan Jones ensures maximum energy at all times. The cast is superb from Kristine Kruse’s outsider Bridget to Chisara Agor’s cool Danielle. I also liked the quirky Sally Hawkins-esque Millie Longhurst in several roles and Matthew Brazier’s willowy transsexual La Cienega.
As well as acrobatic dance moves, Ashley Daniels and Haroun Al-Jeddal bring humour and sensitivity to their characters. But there isn’t a weak link anywhere.
When some of the songs steer towards sloppy sentimentality, there is a sudden reversal in the tricky script that keeps everyone on their toes. Beneath the Rocky/ Legally Blonde fairytale, there is a granular reality about friendships, loyalty, betrayal and self-esteem that engages with important social issues. It’s a knockout.
@NJStreitberger