The Importance of Being Earnest - 4.5 out of 5 stars
State Theatre Company South Australia
TICKETS: https://statetheatrecompany.com.au/shows/the-importance-of-being-earnest/
“What
happens when the bodies who have historically been the punchline become the
authors of the joke?” – Director Petra Kalive
State Theatre Company South Australia’s The
Importance of Being Earnest wastes no time in unsettling expectations.
Rather than treating Wilde’s play as a polished relic of drawing room comedy,
this production leans into its mischief—its delight in performance, pretence,
and the quiet rebellion simmering beneath its wit. What emerges is not simply a
comedy of manners, but a work that questions who gets to define those manners
in the first place.
Director Petra Kalive reframes the familiar world of
cucumber sandwiches and carefully constructed identities as something far more
fluid. Disguise is no longer just a comic device but a lens through which
power, class, and identity are examined. The production embraces theatricality
with open arms, inviting the audience to revel in artifice while also
recognising its consequences. In doing so, it nudges the humour away from easy
targets and toward the structures that make such targets possible.
This shift is embedded in every layer of the production. Kathryn
Sproul’s rotating set keeps the action in constant motion, refusing a single
fixed perspective and instead suggesting a world that can be reoriented at any
moment. Positioning of the furniture in Act 3 prevented a section of the audience
not having a view of the action occurring behind the sofa. Equally, her bold,
saturated costumes push against a more restrained visual frame, creating a
tension between tradition and reinvention that mirrors the play’s central
concerns. Even the presence of music introduces a new emotional undercurrent,
particularly through the figure of Lane, whose perspective cuts through the
frivolity with quiet clarity.
The Importance
of Being Earnest is
a comedy about mistaken identities, romantic obsession, and social satire set
in Victorian England. Jack Worthing and Algernon Moncrieff both use invented
identities to escape their responsibilities and pursue romance, but their lies
soon tangle them in increasingly absurd complications with Gwendolen Fairfax
and Cecily Cardew, both of whom are strangely devoted to the name “Ernest”. The
production’s runtime is 2 hours with no interval.
As a
dialogue-heavy text, the production had plenty of spoken material to navigate,
and while it largely managed that challenge well, there were moments when cast
members stumbled over lines or repeated sections to recover from errors.
Teddy Dunn instils Jack Worthing with a magnetic blend of
earnest restraint and suppressed mischief, making the character's dual life
feel like a rigid wire ready to snap. His crisp delivery of Wilde's epigrams
carries a subtle pull of desperation, turning Jack's fabrications into poignant
cries for authenticity amid Victorian deception. Dunn's physicality—relaxed yet
coiled—perfectly mirrors the production's rotating set, embodying a man spun
between duty and desire.
Pia Gillings captures Cecily's wide-eyed romanticism with
infectious glee and facial expressions, transforming the character's diary-fuelled
fantasies into a defiant celebration of youthful rebellion. Her scene work with
Lindner’s Algernon, under the guise as Earnest, crackles during their garden
courtship, while she excels in quieter beats, her gaze conveying depths of
longing that elevate the role beyond mere ingénue.
Anna Lindner reimagines Algernon as a razor-sharp
provocateur, her gender-flipped take infusing the role with anarchic glee and
swagger. Lindner's impeccable timing turns every quip into a velvet-gloved
challenge to decorum, while her languid poses across the stage amplify the
production's spirit. She steals scenes effortlessly, making Algy's
"Bunburying" a gleeful assault on social norms. If you get a chance
to catch the show, take note on the amount of food Lindner finds herself with…
Glenda Linscott dominates as Lady Bracknell, wielding her walking stick like a scepter in a performance of towering, imperious hilarity. Her vocal precision slices through the satire, delivering lines with seismic disdain that anchors the production's critique of class rigidity. Linscott's commanding presence ensures Bracknell isn't just a caricature but a formidable force exposing the absurdity of inherited privilege.
Carla Lippis grounds the performance as Lane and Merriman,
her deadpan servitude a sly counterpoint to the aristocrats' pretensions. With
minimal dialogue, Lippis conveys volumes through wry glances, impeccable
timing, and other various facial expressions, making the servants the
production's honest heartbeat. Her multifaceted role underscores the class
tensions Kalive excavates from Wilde's text.
In addition to the servant’s life, Lippis' original score and
composition thread emotional truth through Wilde's comedy with three standout
songs—one per act—amplifying the play's radical pulse.
Caroline Mignone infuses Rev. Chasuble with earnest
pomposity, her butter-wouldn't-melt delivery turning sermons into comic gold.
Mignone's overtly flirtatious rapport with Miss Prism sparkles, revealing the
cleric's hidden sensuality beneath clerical starch. Her poised physicality
makes Chasuble a pivot of gentle satire.
Nathan O’Keefe's gender-swapped Miss Prism is a triumph of flustered authenticity, his flustered bluster humanising the governess's repressed yearnings. O’Keefe navigates her moralizing tirades with exquisite awkwardness, making Prism's history a miniature of the play's identity games. His rapport with Mignone cements their subplot as a hilariously tender foil to the main romance.
Connor Pullinger
lends his talents in another gender-swapped role as Gwendolen, with steely
elegance laced with vulnerability, her pursuit of "Ernest" a
masterclass in entitled passion. Pullinger's crystal-like diction elevates the
role's snobbery into sharp social commentary, while her clashes with Cecily
brim with sibling-like fire. On the rotating set, Pullinger embodies the
character's unyielding yet fragile worldview.
While a couple of
instances with early or delayed microphone cues, causing Gillings’ dialogue to
be cut off, the lighting plot was elegant and simple, allowing for the on-stage
action to maintain focus, and giving Lippis’ songs a variation in lighting
states.
State Theatre
Company South Australia’s The Importance of Being Earnest reignites
Oscar Wilde’s subversive masterpiece as a triumphant pantomime
revolution—gender-bent, musically charged, and relentlessly witty. Petra
Kalive’s razor-sharp vision, Kathryn Sproul’s kinetic design, and this fearless
ensemble expose the absurd machinery of Victorian propriety while celebrating
the power of pretense to rewrite the rules. Catch this dazzling, razor-edged
comedy before the revolving stage spins away—tickets won’t last.
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