Gerald Barry's operatic adaptation of Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest has returned in a new production at Garsington Opera, directed by Jack Furness. The production, which runs until 23 July, amplifies the composer's already delirious vision with hyperactive staging that includes a grand piano on stilts, a herd of miniature cows, and a kangaroo that meets a grisly end.
A Hyperactive Nightmare of Comedy
Barry has described his work as "an opera of delirium," and Furness's production leans into that description with relentless energy. The set features an enormous chaise longue-cum-slide, which suffers one of the play's mysterious explosions during the dinner interval, a dirt floor, and a working hose that allows protagonists to be mud-smeared and soaked through in alternation. According to the review, the result is a kind of hyperactive nightmare, its pace slowed by efforts to shock, and the comedy turned sour.
Familiar elements from previous productions remain, such as the tall rack of white dinner plates stacked and ready for smashing. Barry's score transforms Wilde's punchlines into a staccato mashup between speech and singing, with orchestral scoring adding another layer of wit.
Costume Designs and Performances
Hannah Wolfe's costume designs stand out in the darkness. Algernon wears a bowtie with silk pajamas, Gwendoline has ultra-structured dresses that riff on 1890s silhouettes, Miss Prism wears walking trousers and sensible shoes with a neatly coiffed late-Victorian updo, and Cecily's outfits are hysterically frilled and uniformly pink.
Lady Bracknell, played by bass-baritone Henry Waddington, garnered the evening's loudest laughs. She sports a blunt grey bob, lipstick, and a beard, appearing first in a trouser suit and later in a Bismarck-goes-dominatrix ensemble with a shiny latex cape and military helmet. She keeps a gun in her Thatcherite handbag. Waddington's capacity for deadpan, enthralling stage presence, and facility with words in both English and German were vital to the role.
Ensemble Cast and Musical Direction
The cast operates as a true ensemble of singing actors. Seán Boylan as Algernon, Zahid Siddiqui as Jack, and Holly Brown as Gwendolen demonstrate taut coordination, excellent diction, and the ability to spit tea on command. Jennifer France as Cecily squeaks and shrills as only a fine soprano could. Susan Bickley is oddly touching as Miss Prism, Kevin Whately delivers a warm star-turn in the speaking role of Dr Chasuble, and Peter Lidbetter is a po-faced delight as the long-suffering butler, his plate-smashing a masterpiece of comic timing.
Douglas Boyd leads a subset of the Philharmonia Orchestra, on stage throughout, in a high-definition account of Barry's score, capturing its sharply mimetic humour. If Furness's production sees the laughs dwindle, this opera's latest outing is welcome proof that it has achieved life beyond the premiere, a holy grail for contemporary music theatre.
