We round up the reviews for Max Webster’s production, which transfers to the West End following its run at the National Theatre, now starring Olly Alexander and Stephen Fry.
The Guardian: *** “Wilde believed the play “must go like a pistol shot” but here, lines arrive with a leisurely, even laborious, flourish. Even so, the show lives for pleasure, especially in Rae Smith’s designs – lemony drawing room, riotous rose garden, perfectly edible costumes. There’s much side-eye at the audience, and an inspired Hayley Carmichael filches her every scene as a brace of butlers, bone-dry in town and gawpingly bewildered in the country.”
West End Best Friend: ***** “There have been some smart updates to the 130 year old script, but they don’t feel clunky or shoe-horned, rather adding a modern zest to Wilde’s writing, highlighting the camp undertones and gentle mocking of societal expectations.”
London Theatre Reviews.co.uk: ***** “The constant rhythm of the play is extremely enjoyable, and with such a well-balanced cast you aren’t left waiting for a star to return to the stage, you can simply enjoy each scene.”
London Theatre 1: **** “This production gets Wilde’s obsession with identity and double lives and gleefully tosses it into a sequined blender. It’s a romantic comedy, but one where the romance is stylized and the comedy is served with a side of interpretive voguing.”
WhatsOnStage: **** “As you can expect from a National show, the lavishness of Rae Smith’s set and costume designs remain largely unchanged and remain equally effective. There’s typically top-notch work from lighting designer Jon Clark, sound designer Nicola T Chang and composer D J Walde. Last Christmas, the production felt like Wilde-as-panto: this autumn it’s a sure-fire comedy cracker for all seasons.”
London Theatre.co.uk: **** “Olly Alexander proves himself to be the genuine article as a stage star. Diminutive and fey, his Algernon is like a spoiled-sweet child who knows just how precociously clever and charming he is, and it would be impossible to stay cross with him with for long (even when he scoffs all the muffins) by virtue of his talent to amuse.”
Time Out: **** “Webster undoubtedly breaks Wilde’s play, by hauling the subtext up to the surface, and basically yelling THEY’RE GAY at us over and over. But whether you want to look for deeper meaning in the production’s every quirk or simply treat it as a funny, fresh, irreverent way of tackling a comedy that has become mired in sexually repressed cliche, well, that’s entirely up to you.”
West End Wilma: ***** “This is the most important production of The Importance Of Being Earnest that I have seen. It is bold and modern and beautifully delivered – creating an accessible version of an Oscar Wilde classic, unashamedly full of queer joy.”
The Standard: *** “The whole thing looks gorgeous, unfolding with advancing degrees of opulence. Set and costume designer Rae Smith starkly suspends a handbag in front of the stage curtain in the pre-set in a reference to Lady Bracknell’s most famous line. Algy’s Albany suite is relatively staid, the better to show off his fabulous wardrobe of printed jackets, lace shirts and pink socks.”
The Stage: *** “Olly Alexander and Stephen Fry star in this unsubtle and inelegant version of Oscar Wilde’s greatest comedy.”
The Upcoming: **** “Ultimately, though there are occasions where its cleverness can feel more like excessive decoration, this production of The Importance of Being Earnest largely channels Wilde’s pirouetting language into propulsive comic energy, maintaining high spirits all the way to its rousing conclusion. It remains as spry, effusively performed, and opulently styled as any show you’ll find in the theatre this season.”
All That Dazzles: ***** “In every single beat of the show, Max Webster has considered the comedy to a painstakingly specific detail. Whether it is finding the best way to gain a laugh from Wilde’s original writing, his new twists on the language used, or amplifying the comedy in the overall situation, Webster’s direction never falters in its creativity.”
The Telegraph: **** “With a starry cast and zesty acting, this Oscar Wilde staging is the thinking person’s panto.”
The Reviews Hub: **** “Webster’s vivacious production reclaims Wilde’s queer legacy in glorious style and celebrates just how far society has changed since his imprisonment. With homophobia and transphobia on the rise, the twenty-first century is no utopia. But this hugely enjoyable show is a defiant rainbow flag that can’t easily be stuffed back in the closet.”
The Arts Desk: **** “The sheer energy and visual delights of this vision of queer Victoriana, dragged voguing and squawking into our current century might not be enough to blow away all doubts about the piece (exceptional exuberance can get tiring quite quickly) but it is certainly entertaining – and then some. By the time the supremely colourful curtain call arrives, the audience is worshipping at Webster’s feet. Shamelessly populist and wonderfully absurd.”
The Importance of Being Earnest continues to play in the West End until the 10th January.