Noble handles this effectively, freezing everything on stage apart from the main protagonists. His admiration for Lord Illingworth and love for a young American heiress (Rachel Stirling's Miss Worsley) build to a dramatic revelation of shame. The second act introduces the black-dressed sombre Mrs Arbuthnot (Samantha Bond) and Julian Ovenden as her gauche son, Gerald. Both they and Mr Noble are to be congratulated on their excellent comic timing. It only comes to life when the playwright's alter egos, Lord Illingworth, played rather camply by Rupert Graves, and Mrs Allonby, a powerful but endearing Joanne Pearce, start throwing out aphorisms, many from the book of quotations (of fox-hunting, "the unspeakable in full pursuit of the uneatable"). As with Lady Windermere's Fan, Wilde shows feminist leanings as he attacks the injustice of a society that condemns a "fallen" woman while admiring the cause of her downfall.Īdrian Noble's production starts a little stiffly with the light drawing room comedy. He is justly famed for his epigrams and great wit but his observation of character is generally spot on as well.Ī Woman of No Importance primarily focuses on the differences between men and women and, more importantly, the way in which Victorian society treated its ladies. It is all too easy to forget how well Oscar Wilde constructs his plays.
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