The Importance of Being Earnest | Tivoli Theatre, Wimborne

Like I have said countless times here on the blog, I am a massive fan of the theatre. I have been fortunate enough to have been to a number of shows in my 20 years that have been awesome, but I do have a confession. Most of these shows have been musicals. I am a massive fan of musical theatre as music and me are like best friends. However, I have always said that I should give plays a go too! Well, it just so happened that the opportunity arose the other day. I was invited down to the Tivoli Theatre in Wimborne, Dorset to go and see Total Talent’s Product of ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’. The Importance of Being Earnest was written by Oscar Wilde. The play is a ‘trivial comedy for serious people’ and is set in the late Victorian era.

The play is about John Worthing, who is the inventor of a fictitious brother, “Ernest,” whose wicked ways afford John an excuse to leave his country home from time to time and journey to London. He stays with his close friend, Algernon Moncrieff. Algernon has a cousin, Gwendolen, with whom John is deeply in love. During his London visits, John, under the name Ernest, has won Gwendolen’s love, for she desires to marry someone with the confidence-inspiring name of Ernest. Returning to the country home where he lives with his ward Cecily, John finds that Algernon has also arrived under the identity of the non-existent brother Ernest. Algernon falls madly in love with the beautiful Cecily, who has long been enamoured of the mysterious, fascinating brother Ernest. There is so much more to the plot, however if I tell you more, I fear I may spoil it!

Lady Bracknell, (I realise is not mentioned in the plot, but is a vital character) is played by Ken Dee, that’s right a man! When I first read that I was a little shocked, you only regularly see men playing females now when they are in pantomimes. This was not the case here. Dee plays Lady Bracknell amazingly. She was definitely not a character that you would find in a panto! If you are blind as a bat like me when you take your glasses off during the show, you would not be able to tell that Lady Bracknell is played by a man. Dee believes that Oscar Wilde intended Lady Bracknell to be played by a man, however society of the late 1800s was not as accepting as we are now. Perhaps, this production of the show is how Oscar Wilde imagined how the play would be performed.

I’m going to be 100% honest with you. I was not a big fan of the first half. To me, the story did not go anywhere in this first half, everyone was just talking about marriage and pretending to be someone else, which don’t get me wrong was interesting, but not laugh my socks off funny. However, the second half is where it is at. The jokes in this were on point and I was often catching myself laughing a fair bit! However, the jokes were funny, because you understood the first half of the performance. You have to watch the entire performance to understand what is going on.

Despite not loving the first half, I still really enjoyed the play. The first act was a mere 45 minutes long, so it wasn’t too bad. I fell that the first half was there to explain what was going on in the second half and to let the audience know who all the characters are. Like I said, the second half was where it was at. It just had joke after joke and myself and the audience were laughing regularly. It’s just a ridiculous plot line, but it is ridiculously hilarious.

I really connected with Cecily (played by Hannah Hawkins). I love giving someone a cup of tea with sugar in, especially when they ask for no sugar! Their face is always a picture when they sip it! I also related to Algernon (played by David McCulloch) who is always eating and then blaming someone else when all the food is gone! Cucumber sandwiches just taste too darn nice. Plus, they are normally so small, that you can’t just have one! I also liked that the set was really simple. It meant that you could focus on the narrative, which is much more important.

As this was the first play I had seen in a while, I was worried I wasn’t going to enjoy it as much as a musical. Oh, but was I wrong! I did really enjoy the play, and I am now much more open to going and seeing a play.

I would definitely recommend giving this play a try. Especially, if you are fairly new to the play game as its rather funny and less serious than others. I promise you, you will laugh during the performance!

If you need further convincing to see this production of ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ then here is a trailer I found on Ken Dee’s website.

Thank you so much to Total Talent for the invite! I had a wonderful night and I wish you the best of luck with the play in the future! Make sure you check out my other theatre reviews here.

Thank you again to Total Talent and the Tivoli Theatre for having me! Also, massive thank you to actor David McCulloch for the invite!  I was given complementary tickets to ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ in exchange for a review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.