To Hell In A Handbag (Assembly Rooms)
Governess Miss Prism and Canon Chasuble, two minor characters in The Importance of Being earnest, are given lives beyond Wilde in a droll if over-long pastiche. Helen norton’s Miss Prism (she could be John sergeant’s twin sister) is not quite the pillar of sobriety after all. Cork your communion wine!
Chasuble ( Jonathan White, doing much Wildean chin-dropping) once frequented opium dens and has a sideline as an agony aunt.
The show was written by norton and White and includes such lines as: ‘His Grace The Archbishop of York may be a most pious churchman but helping others is not high on his list of priorities.’
The result is highbrow whimsy perfect for ‘earnest’ enthusiasts.