The classic Oscar Wilde tale has been on at Circa Theatre for the last few weeks. Nicola got the ushering gig for its pre-penultimate night, so I went along too.
It’s not a short play, so the start time was brought forward
to 6:30pm. This limited our dining options somewhat, so we decided to dine off
the new Circa restaurant menu. I’d been disappointed with their fush’n’chups
the last time I was there, so this time opted for the chicken burger. It’s not
brilliant.
When you tackle a classic like this, you’ve got to add a twist. The last version of this I saw was with Judi Dench, who tackled the famous “a handbag?” line with quiet restraint instead of the usual histrionics…so that’s been done. The quirk added by this production is in the casting: Algernon is played by Isobel Mackinnon, and Gwendolen by Ryan Carter. The part of John Worthing was played by Andrew Paterson, who we know as a member of A Slightly Isolated Dog as well as other roles, and has been a regular at Circa over a number of years. Also departing from most other productions is the maid Merriman’s rendition of Life On Mars, which I don’t remember being in the original.
It’s all splendidly done, and everything works out in the end. Sorry, should’ve said “spoiler alert” there.
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