Oscar Wilde’s drawing room comedy pretty much invented twentieth century British comedy, and as such it’s become something of a cliché. It’s not that ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ is never staged – it was last seen in the West End in 2018 – so much as the major theatres tend not to touch it. The NT hasn’t tackled it since the early ’80s, but here, intriguingly it is, finally getting a splashy Christmas revival that’ll star newly-minted Timelord Ncuti Gatwa as lusty young idler Algenon, who alongside his BFF Jack (Hugh Skinner) must infiltrate the stately home of the formidable Lady Bracknell in order to go a-wooing.
It’s a great cast and Gatwa alone will ensure it sells out its relatively brief festive run. But is there anything new to be found in Wilde’s play? If there is, director Max Webster is the man to find it – with his extravagent visual style and innovative recent takes on Shakespeare (notably his binaural ‘Macbeth’ with fellow Doctor David Tennant) you can expect something more than period dress and wobbly country house sets.
