A Woman Of No Importance

Oscar Wilde’s works are known for their savagely witty exposure of Victorian double standards. This production of one of his finest plays provided an encapsulation of everything great about this literary revolutionary. Starting with the premise of the illegitimate son of a womanising nobleman finding his employer to be his absent father, dazzling performances from a cast of caricatures were often hilarious. With droll one-liners delivered gleefully, particularly by Alistair Birch as the devil-may-care Lord Illingworth, there was real pathos with the tragic Mrs Arbuthnot (Tess Gill). Deftly balancing this darkly comic mix, Harry Atkinson’s minimal direction let the real star, Wilde’s words, take centre stage.

Brighton Little Theatre, 1 July 2013

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