大象传媒

"If Oscar Wilde were alive today, he would probably be writing scripts for Frasier."

David Green reviews the Importance of Being Earnest, at the Royal Exchange Theatre.

Lady Bracknell (Gabrielle Drake)

"Frequently funnier than a trip to the Comedy Store, the Importance of Being Earnest, at the Royal Exchange Theatre, was a delight.

"The punchlines have all been heard before, of course, but the care and comic timing of the cast meant laughs were never far away. And Wilde's message - that what seems serious is frequently trivial, and vice versa - still rings true today.

"For those not in the know, this razor-witted high farce pokes fun at the social mores of Victorian England and centres on the misplaced contents of a certain handbag.

"John Worthing (Ian Shaw), who knows the significance of said bag only too well, wishes to marry Gwendolin Fairfax (Anna Hewson) who is also attracted to him because she believes he is called Ernest - a name which, ironically, seems to her to suggest a trustworthy nature.

"But her acidic mother, Lady Bracknell (played by the excellent Gabrielle Drake) refuses to approve the match after John mentions the circumstances of his birth.

"Her nephew, Algernon Moncrieff (James de Courcey), and John's young ward - the flighty and pretty Cecily Cardew (Laura Rees) - also embark on a fledgling romance. But the characters - each of them blinded by their own vanity - cannot see the wood for the trees and all their efforts seem doomed to failure, until the end.

"Far more amusing than what passes for most sit-coms nowadays, this is a must see, and is on at the Exchange until 7 August."

David Green