The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
A Woman of No Importance
This touring production of Oscar Wilde’s rarely staged satirical play boasts more than its fair share of national acting treasures.
With a cast that includes Liza Goddard – best known for her roles in TV dramas The Brothers in the 1970s and Bergerac in the 80s – alongside veteran comedian Roy Hudd, Shakespearean actress Katy Stephens, ex-Goodnight Sweetheart star Emma Amos and longtime stage and screen star Isla Blair, this production is taking to the road two years after it debuted at the West End’s Vaudeville Theatre.
“It’s a bit like a Poirot,” laughs former Give Us A Clue team leader Liza, 69. “You’ve got a big country house party bringing everyone together in one place – but there’s no murder. There is a bit of a mystery and a lot of comedy, though.”
Directed by ex-Shakespeare’s Globe supremo Dominic Dromgoole, the play’s one of four Victorian comedies Irish wordsmith Wilde penned from 1891-94, including his final masterpiece The Importance Of Being Earnest.
Liza reckons A Woman Of No Importance, which revolves around the spectre of illegitimate births, mistaken identities and late revelations, was typically subversive. “People have the idea – a bit like with Alan Ayckbourn – that Wilde’s plays are just comedies, but there’s much more to them,” she declares.
“A Woman Of No Importance observes women and what happened in that society to a woman if she had a child out of wedlock. She’d be reviled and the man would get off scot-free. Which actually happens a lot today.”
The Wilde veteran plays party hostess Lady Hunstanton, who she describes as “a terrible gossip and a bit doolally”.
Liza says audiences can expect “a damn good story” adorned with Wilde’s trademark wit, and she’s looking forward to retreading the Fair City’s boards after a lengthy absence.
“Perth I haven’t played in 45 years, since I was there when Joan Knight ran it and we used to do new plays by a writer called NC Hunter,” she adds. “When they did the theatre up I bought a brick or a seat, so I’ll go and find that.”
Meanwhile, it was Roy’s love of music hall that led him to the part of Archdeacon Daubeny.
“The sweetener was they wanted me to do three songs and said, ‘You can pick the songs you want to do’, so that’s what I’ve done,” he reveals.
He’s also enjoying his role for another more unusual reason. “I did one of the early Call The Midwifes,” adds Roy, 83. “I played an old soldier who died at the end of the episode. After that, I died in every job I got on television.
“This role is particularly lovely because I’m alive at the end.”