The opulent Albert Room in Brighton’s Grand Hotel provides a perfect setting for Oscar Wilde’s celebrated play of mistaken identities.
Director Ross Drury gives the piece a traditional treatment rather than trying to impose 21st-century values on it, and the audience is invited to take afternoon tea alongside the cast, participating in the illustrious story of the baby abandoned in a handbag; a baby who, in later years, discovers the trivialities of marriage and life. As we dine upon cucumber sandwiches and scones with clotted cream at circular tables corralled around the theatrics, the magic happens.
Of course, with a script as good as this, it would be unforgivable not to put on a good show, and this Something Witty production manages, thankfully, to live up to its name.
Despite the ballroom location, the set itself is surprisingly sparse and it falls to the butler, played with brilliant dry humor by David Burton, to announce the changes of scene. The size of the space has both advantages and drawbacks; at times, the actors are close enough to the audience to exchange sly glances and giggles, but then at other times their lines are barely audible.
The performances are also a slightly mixed bag. While Samuel John turns in a slightly hammy rendition of Jack Worthing, the comedian Laura Lexx lights up the cast along with her utterly charming and eloquent performance of Cecily - most notably when played alongside Miss Prism, wonderfully performed by Peta Taylor. But surely the biggest success is Drury’s bold decision to cast a man as Lady Bracknell - more pantomime dame than Dame Edith Evans. Indeed, the latter might be spinning in her grave, but Hayward Morse makes such a valiant go of the part that his every booming entrance is a sheer delight.
In all, this is a fast-paced and sparkling stab at a classic that’s well worth seeing. And, as long as the cucumber sandwiches don’t run out, you’ll get a damn good tea into the bargain. As Algernon says, “I hate people who are not serious about meals. It is so shallow of them.”