The Importance of Being Earnest 1999 - 2001
A trivial comedy for serious people
“New shine on the old handbag”
Daily Telegraph
“Not only does this wickedly irreverent revival buff up Oscar Wilde's
old handbag to a gleaming new shine, but by picking up the author's
trail of coded gay messages, director Lawrence Till
exposes the impotence of most Earnests.”
The Guardian
SYNOPSIS:
The play, but set in the 1950’s, with all the characters being played by Maggie and Sue. The show takes place in a handbag set. "It's been a great liberation for us to just concentrate on the performance rather than worrying if a line we've written is working or not. Amazingly, we've found a cast as mad as we are, fully prepared to go to the extremes of madness like we do. What we're doing with it is trying to do it afresh. It's become the tea and cucumber sandwich play with the handbag, and so it's lost its shock - not least the secret meanings of some of the expressions Wilde wrote for his male friends - but it is a hugely scandalous piece." (Maggie Fox)
In 1999 Artistic Director of the Bolton Octagon Lawrence Till asked if we would like to be in The Importance of Being Earnest. We said “yes “as long as we could play all the characters. What followed was one of the most inspired, anarchic productions ever, with multiple characters swapping parts and cross dressing. We toured the production in 2001 with a set, designed by Richard Foxton, consisting of a giant handbag, slowly opening in Act Two to reveal a rural scene. The show toured to huge critical acclaim overshadowing a rival, more traditional production starring Patricia Routledge
The Stage Door Foundation - Manchester Theatre Awards 2014