AISLE SAY New Jersey
THE
IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST
by Oscar Wilde
Directed by David Schweitzer
Starring Lynn Redgrave
Paper Mill Playhouse /
Milburn, NJ
At
the Paper Mill Playhouse, director David Schweitzer’s production of The Importance
of Being
Earnest is
competent and
professional, but, unusually for him, a stylistic misfire. The trick of
this Oscar
Wilde play of manners
is to have
the actors play its trivialities as if they were of life-and-death
importance—not without comic flair, of course, but for real stakes and
with utter sincerity. Mr. Schweitzer, however, has his cast playing it
all with
such high verbal style—rather like the Monty Python “very witty, Wilde”
sketch—that the net effect is to make it seem as if the characters
themselves are trivial, because they spend so much time posturing. Thus
the
sweetness of the play is gone, and without heart, you can’t really
invest in
anyone, and all the quips become a little exhausting. The cast is
excellent,
however, and, wouldn’t you know, Lynn Redgrave, who plays (of course) Lady Bracknell,
is such an
accomplished grande dame of the theatre that she manages to serve both
the play
and Schweitzer’s heightened approach as well. Then again, Bracknell is
the one
role that can stand securely with a foot in each camp. With a handbag
in either…
Go to David Spencer's Profile
Return to Home Page