“At the moment people want escapism, and The Importance of Being Earnest is a very funny play. It needs to be a crowd pleaser to fill the Oxford Playhouse, so we’ve given it a facelift and freshened it up,” director Tim Eyres explains, “and we can’t wait to see what people think.”
One of Oscar Wilde’s most popular plays, The Importance of Being Earnest was first performed in 1895, featuring two young men leading double lives by pretending to be someone called Earnest, causing much hilarious confusion.
To make it more accessible, Oxford Theatre Guild has turned it on its head by setting The Importance of Being Earnest in the 1920s when flappers and Art Deco was all the rage.
“We hope The Importance of being Earnest will be one to remember.”
“The Importance of Being Earnest is fundamentally anti-establishment so you get that farcical mistaken identity plot. But it still stands up today because it’s a satirisation of society, and all about the undercurrents that go hand in hand with that, so it’s a great play.
“And because it’s about the young kicking back against a staid, older generation, we’ve set in the 1920s when flappers were in their element, so it works for different generations,” Tim adds.
‘the challenge is to make it as funny and believable as possible and to make the scenery and sets worthy of the Oxford Playhouse’
“”The challenge was to make it as funny and believable as possible and to make the scenery and sets worthy of the Oxford Playhouse. So we’ve gone for an Art Deco theme to bring it alive and make the most of the theatre,” Tim says. “We want it to be as entertaining as possible.”
Throw in the fact that this is one of the most popular plays of the last 140 years, with lots of well known characters, epigrams and witticisms that people will recognise, and OTG looks set for another big success on their hands READ OUR REVIEW OF THEIR LAST PLAY NELL GWYNN HERE
‘People appreciate Oxford Theatre Guild’s standards and consistency so we just want the audience to really enjoy themselves’
So how is Tim feeling abut directing such an epic production? “it’s the first time I have directed at Oxford Playhouse and it’s a big responsibility, but I’ve enjoyed every minute, and the cast is well prepared, so now I can just stand back and let them get on with it. I can’t wait,” he says.
“Price wise The Importance of Being Earnest is very accessible and we have a really loyal audience. People appreciate Oxford Theatre Guild‘s standards and consistency so we just want the audience to really enjoy themselves.
‘it’s about the young kicking back against a staid, older generation because we want to make it as accessible as possible’
“So we hope people of all ages come and enjoy The Importance of Being Earnest with us because OTG’s been going for 70 years now and we hope this will be one to remember.”
The Importance Of Being Earnest By Oxford Theatre Guild is at Oxford Playhouse from Tuesday April 16 – Sat April 20. Book here https://www.oxfordplayhouse.com/events/the-importance-of-being-earnest
