16 December  1993 - 29 January 1994

THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST

by Oscar Wilde

Sponsored by Ernst & Young

Lane, Merriman JAMES MASTERS
Algernon Moncrieff SAMUEL WEST
John Worthing, J.P. NEIL DUDGEON
Lady Bracknell AVRIL ELGAR
Hon. Gwendolen Fairfax ZARA TURNER
Cecily Cardew MELANIE RAMSAY
Miss Prism MARCIA WARREN
Rev. Canon Chasuble, D.D. JOHN BRANWELL

Director JAMES MAXWELL
Designer TOM RAND
Lighting ROBERT BRYAN
Sound PETE GOODWIN
Choreographer NIGEL NICHOLSON
Assistant Director JACOB MURRAY

'...James Maxwell's production...has an excellent Lady Bracknell in Avril Elgar, bony and dragonish...Marcia Warren is a glittering Prism...Zara Turner's Gwendoline is a smouldering iceberg...Algy (Samuel West) is a sleek, calm, boyish drawing-room killer, exquisitely dressed, with monogrammed slippers: a poised, wickedly thoughtful performance.'
John Peter The Sunday Times

'...the art deco design, extending to some wonderfully absurd costumes, offers an appropriate background for the elegant cut-glass wit of Wilde's play. After the urgent and powerful revolutionary speculations of Rod Wooden's Smoke, it all seems like a frothy indulgence. But with such enjoyable results...who's complaining?'
Jim Burke City Life

'The whole performance is a delightful piece of theatre.
Malcolm Handley Liverpool Daily Post

Following its run at the Royal Exchange, The Importance of Being Earnest went on tour in the company's mobile theatre with the following cast:
Lane, Merriman JAMES MASTERS
Algernon Moncrieff RUPERT WICKHAM
John Worthing JP JO STONE-FEWINGS
Lady Bracknell BRIGIT FORSYTH
Hon Gwendolen Fairfax RACHEL SMITH
Cecily Cardew KATE ASHFIELD
Miss Prism TILLY TREMAYNE
Rev Canon Chasuble JOHN BRANWELL