Performance
© Ridiculusmus 2008
Supported by:
ABC, Brisbane 2005
‘The Importance Of Being Earnest’ by Oscar Wilde
Thursday, 7 April 2005
Brisbane Powerhouse (until 9 April)
I believe the wit and insight of Oscar Wilde to be one of the most enduring characteristics of the English language. The Importance of Being Earnest, along with many of his countless other plays have stood the test of time over the past century and seems as amusing and insightful to us now as ever.
Perhaps this is because his clever use of language is combined with a bitingly truthful insight into the hearts and minds of men and women across time. After all, we all wear masks and we all play games, we all recognize this in others but hope to God that they don’t see it in us. And this is the stuff of Wilde’s comedies – comedies about pretense and snobbery, about appearances and hypocrisy – that appeals to us. We still see it with us now, even a century after these masterpieces were written. Even in so-called egalitarian societies like Australia we still see it. And we still don’t like to publicly admit it.
In the world Premiere of this production by the British comedy duo Ridiculusmus (David Woods and Jon Haynes) the text itself has suffered little, if any, interference. It is, however, staged it in a uniquely inventive way in that there are only two people (both men) playing all the characters. No pretense is made to hide the character and costume changes – the audience simply has to sit and wait at times – but this approach to the text really does add quite a level of humour to the play rather than detracting from it. This is because one is placed into the position of actually listening to the text and the way in which the two men will keep interpreting and re-interpreting it as the play develops, rather than watching a larger ensemble of actors act out roles.
The play loses none of it humour. In fact it gains considerably from the approach. The Ingenious set design and costumes, along with the strangely appropriate sound design make this a production well worth seeing. The audience on the night I attended was clearly very appreciative of the level of talent of these two men.
I could easily recommend this production to schools and people of all ages as something educational, informative, refreshing and very, very funny.
Go see it.
Nigel Munro-Wallis
Related pages:
.. Evening Standard London 2005 .. The Australian, Brisbane 2005