'A Woman of No Importance', 11/10/2017: A Review.
On
Wednesday 11th
October, I went to see 'A Woman of No Importance' at the Vaudeville,
performed by Classic Spring,
a
new theatre company founded by Dominic
Dromgoole (former
Artistic Director of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre) who
also directed this production.
Fabulously Wilde theatre date with gorgeous @EscapologistFi this eve.— Grace (@_gracelatter) October 11, 2017
Thank you @FrmtheBoxoffice 💜
Review to come on https://t.co/npznZr9UgU pic.twitter.com/oa4Y2Nn11a
The
show is the first in the company's Oscar Wilde season, revolving
around his four great Victorian plays which shocked and redefined
British theatre, and still resonate and refresh today.
"An earnest young American woman, a louche English lord, and an innocent young chap join a house party of fin de siècle fools and grotesques. Nearby a woman lives, cradling a long buried secret. Wilde’s marriage of glittering wit and Ibsenite drama create a vivid new theatrical voice."
(source:
From the Box Office.)
This
production stars
Olivier award winner Eve
Best
(A
Moon for the Misbegotten and Hedda Gabler),
Eleanor
Bron
(Help!,
Alfie),
William
Gaunt
(King
Lear, The Crucible)
and BAFTA nominated Anne
Reid
(Last
Tango in Halifax).
'It
is perfectly monstrous the way people go about, nowadays, saying
things against one behind one's back that are absolutely and entirely
true.'
(oh god, these two were like a Wilde Beatrice and Benedick! Magnificent.)
Having
never seen an Oscar Wilde play performed before, I will admit I
wasn't sure what to expect. But then, I was hardly surprised when I
fell madly in love with the writing as well as the utter beauty
onstage. Every actor was word perfect – well, obviously, but I mean
they said every word like it properly mattered – and the
different types of chemistry between them mingled wickedly or ran
completely parallel to each other, in the best way.
The
audience atmosphere was especially excellent; we'd all giggle at the
witty one-liners and gasp at the scandalous reveals, it was really
like we were in a secret club, all in on something massive.
MRS
ALLONBY: It is only fair to tell you beforehand he has got no
conversation at all.
LADY STUTFIELD: I adore silent men.
MRS ALLONBY: Oh, Ernest isn't silent. He talks the whole time. But he has got no conversation. What he talks about I don't know. I haven't listened to him for years...
LADY STUTFIELD: I adore silent men.
MRS ALLONBY: Oh, Ernest isn't silent. He talks the whole time. But he has got no conversation. What he talks about I don't know. I haven't listened to him for years...
A
strange thing happened within me, watching the play at the Vaudeville
that evening. I suddenly was hit with a happy, only slightly painful,
yearning for drama. Sure, I have a fair bit of drama in my life, blah
blah blah...I mean, actual theatre. I've always loved that form of
creativity, almost as much as writing, ever since secondary school,
when I studied GCSE Drama and would spend 8 weeks of every year
rehearsing for the school's infamous Christmas Panto, right up until
I chose to do half a Drama degree. These days, with no...outlet,
I guess, for that theatrical love, seeing shows these days
will stir those old feelings up and make me grin in the dark, in the
stalls.
'When
a man is old enough to do wrong he should be old enough to do right
also.'
I
could imagine this theatre company's auditions and rehearsal
processes, the arduous line-learning – which amazed me crazy
amounts. I mean, Mrs Allonby's speech about a good man?! Bravo, Emma
Fielding. And the long, emotive exchanges between Mrs Arbuthnot (Eve
Best) and Lord Illingworth (Dominic Rowan)? Actual madness.
But
I think most of my favourite line deliveries came from Phoebe Fildes,
playing Lady Stutfield. Every one of her lines was said with such
immense yet comical sadness; she was wistful and at times
bordering on sarcastic, and she got a lot of laughs.
'The
secret of life is to appreciate the pleasure of being terribly,
terribly deceived.'
My
hot date for the evening, Fiona Longmuir, and I were excitedly discussing all things theatre in the interval; our
favourite Shakespeares ('Much Ado', specifically the 2011 David
Tennant edition), actors we particularly despise in film and our own
ventures into amateur productions.
We
also giggled at a certain audience member, as did the rest of the
crowd when they weren't sighing in exasperation, who would hoot,
chuckle and exclaim seemingly at random throughout the play. We
reckon he was a particularly...keen...Oscar Wilde fan.
-- And
after the play Fi found out Eleanor Bron, who played Mrs Caroline,
was Ms Minchin from the devastating 1995 film 'A Little Princess'!
The freak out was major.
'To win back my youth, there is nothing I wouldn't do - except take exercise, get up early, or be a useful member of the community.'
'A
Woman of No Importance' will be running at the Vaudeville until 30th
December.
'De
Profundis' runs for just over a week from the 3rd
January,
and then 'Lady Windermere’s Fan' begins on 12th
January.
There are many more talks and productions yet to come besides those –
info can be found on the Classic Spring website
and/or on their Twitter page.
Get
your tickets now, at From the Box Office!
'Nothing
should be out of the reach of hope. Life is a hope.'
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