Details

Classic turn-of-the-century comedy of social manners. A very complicated plot that includes the famous "A Handbag!" line .. Jack Worthing is in love with Gwendolen Fairfax, daughter of the redoubtable Lady Bracknell, and cousin of his friend Algernon. They cannot wed until the mystery of his parentage (he was found in a handbag on Victoria Station) is resolved. Algy discovers that Jack has a pretty young ward, Cecily, living at the Manor and visits her pretending to be Jack's fictitious (and wicked) brother Ernest. At the start of this production we find Wilde in a Paris cafe, breakfasting on champagne and absinthe. Surrounded by the splendour of Art Nouveau and the beauty of the young waiters, he recalls his moment of greatest triumph with The Importance of Being Earnest. With good-humoured mischief, he casts the play from the cafe's elegant male clientele.

Cast/Performers

Alan Stanford

Creatives/Company

Author: Oscar Wilde
Producer: Abbey Theatre
Director: Conall Morrison
Design: Sabine Dargent
Lighting: Ben Ormerod
Costume: Joan O'Clery