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economist suntribune february 10 1988 cis theatres version of earnest flawed there are few plays that can be seen or read over and over again without losing their freshness and charm oscar wildes the im portance of being earnest is one of them a marvel of scintillating wit and elegant phrasing it ranks high among the worlds comic masterpieces its frivolous plot is as light as air but in the telling wildes genius pricks the preten sions and pretences of the social order of his day and ours with barbed invention fortunately in england at any rate education produces absolutely no effect whatsoever says the formidable lady brack nell while crossexamining her prospective soninlaw jack worthing in married life three is company two is none later observes his friend algernon moncrieff deception unmasked jack a rich young man of un certain origins has invented a neerdowell brother called ear nest whose imaginary escapades in london alleviate the boredom of the country with frequent obligatory trips to town theatre in review liz wyatt his deception is unmasked by algy who has himself invented an ailing friend called bunbury whose frequent relapses provide an excuse to visit the country whenever he chooses under his alias jack falls in love with algys cousin gwen dolen fairfax algy in turn poses as his friends mythical brother and falls in love with jacks pretty young ward cecily cardew their bunburying comes un stuck when each discovers that his chief attraction to the girls is his name it becomes vitally im portant to be called earnest which they earnestly set out to do this delicious nonsense was brought to the markham theatre last week as the third presenta tion of its drama series by van couvers art club theatre but not quite as deliciously as might have been expected from a com pany of such fine reputation a mix of acting styles robbed the production of cohesiveness and a curious lack of interaction among some of the players raised barriers to our suspension of dis belief willing though we were no feeling norman browning was a won derfully wildeian jack in pose gesture movement and delivery but hardly a flicker of feeling ani- mated his face this jack appeared not to care tuppence for gwendolen or anything else daphne goldbrick was equally impassive far from dominating her every scene her lady brack nell appeared detached from the other characters and too often faded out of the picture on their lines norma mathesons gwendolen was witty and stylish but mathe- son undercut the punch of some of her best lines with a silly affected little laugh that was horribly re miniscent of the irritating gwen dolen in the wendy hiller telefilm that aired on public television a couple of years back and much of the comedy built into the role of the delightfully dotty miss prism cecilys gover ness was lost in the naturalistic oversimplified playing of kate robbins pleasant though she was at the opposite end of the ex treme were russell roberts as algy and martin evans in the dual roles of the servants lane and merriman these two be haved at times as if theyd escaped from a cooney and chap man farce where no doubt theyd be marvellous but in wildes drawing rooms and country gardens where the worldly insouciance of the raised eyebrow frosty stare or curled lip are de riguer their mugging tri ple takes and signalling of lines are wildly out of place but there were two flawless performances corrine hebden and bernard cuffling were utter ly enchanting as cecily and the rev dr chasuble respectively both walked the fine line between excess and underplaying with nary a misstep and their charm convinced as much as it de lighted and the production was a visual treat phillip clarksons decep tively simple sets were at once graceful and opulent and allowed director mario crudo scope for some artfully pleasing staging directorial laxity crudo sometimes however sacrificed dramatic impact for symmetry notably in the con frontation scene between miss prism and lady bracknell perhaps directorial laxity not selfindulgence or exhaustion of actors on tour was responsible for the productions uneven style clarksons costumes too were elegant and eyecatching if not always strictly true to the period lanes outdated knee breeches and powdered wig would be worn only in the grandest of establish ments on the grandest of evening occasions in 1895 not in 1885 as the program erroneously placed it that this flawed production was still so delightfully enjoyable is a tribute to wildes genius nothing can seriously dim the lustre of this almost perfect play if the arts club theatre version didnt sparkle brilliantly as it might have done it was lively enough to please handyman w mcdonald painting decorating exterior interior renovations drywall taping and carpentry free estimates 6406548 no job too large or too small ken smurthwaite heating ltd air conditioning duct work custom sheet metal stouffville 6401428 electrical jobs new additions renovations rec rooms 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