Bournemouth, Events & Entertainment | Posted on April 3rd, 2025 | return to news
PREVIEW ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ to be staged in Winton
Oscar Wilde’s classic comedy will be staged at Bournemouth Little Theatre in Winton this April.
Oscar Wilde’s classic comedy, ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ is coming to Bournemouth Little Theatre this month.
First performed in 1895, ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ sees two well-to-do gentlemen leading double lives using the fake name ‘Ernest’ to pursue their romantic interests. The play’s title serves a double function, referring to both the importance of honesty and truthfulness in human relations and to the fact that two men are displaying anything but those virtues.
The farcical, elegantly written comedy secured Wilde’s reputation forever and has been adapted for stage and screen several times.
Director by John Billington said: “How do you direct one of the great enduring classics of British comedy? Half the audience will have performed in – or at least watched – extracts, seen stage productions or caught one of the films. They’ll know the catch phrases that have slipped into common usage.
“And everybody knows about the bloody handbag.
“For better or worse, my answer is look at the text, again and again, and think what Wilde meant when he said ‘Earnest’ was ‘A trivial play for serious people.’
“Wilde’s exuberant creation is certainly trivial. Its plot is beyond operatically ludicrous – to have one heroine fixated on marrying a man called Ernest is ludicrous, to have two is surely bizarre – and makes no excuses for stretching credulity to breaking point. Characters are simply types, ranging from Bertie Wooster and Jeeves to an idiot vicar and a Gorgon mother.
“And yet, and yet. Alongside the bon mots and beautifully turned phrases are salvoes against Victorian hypocrisy, a nod or two to Commedia dell’arte and even veiled references to ‘A Doll’s House’. It’s one of those layers upon layers things. But most importantly of all, it’s a hoot, a delight of wit and contrivance.”
The production will be performed from Tuesday 8 April to Saturday 12 April at 7.45pm, with a Saturday matinee at 2.30pm. Book via www.bournemouthlittletheatre.co.uk.
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