The Importance of Being Earnest at the Noël Coward Theatre
I’ve just seen the show in the West End. It was hard not to laugh and enjoy myself. Wilde’s famous lines were expertly delivered; the performances polished, the period costumes elegant, and there were plenty of laughs and camp humour. In fact, it borders on crowd-pleasing.
For my money, it is a little too faithful to the original, without much freshness or daring reinterpretation. The director played safe. Rather too safe. What saved the show was Stephen Fry’s outstanding turn as Lady Bracknell,

delivered with delicious sharpness and wit. It was worth seeing just for him.