Presented by Fifth Business Theatre
Reviewed 19 February 2016
Fifth Business Theatre’s inaugural production was a successful adaptation of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. With The Importance of Being Earnest, Fifth Business is attempting to relive that success by transporting the action into the modern world. The play’s theme of vanity and status is depicted through the modern obsession of social media. Although a clever idea, both the writing and performance suffer from lacklustre execution.
Oscar Wilde’s wordy and witty comedy of errors follows two men and their use of aliases to escape their workaday lives. Issues arise when they fall in love with two young women and the facades become too much to handle. The classic play is constructed of Wilde’s clever and dry dialogue that requires precise timing and clever delivery. Director Janet Fletcher and her cast deliver a performance that prefers farcical slapstick, going against the nature of the original play. Although this does work on occasion, it does detract from many of the genius lines written by Wilde.
Danny Gauthier is the strength of the cast as Algernon Moncrief with a charming stage presence and a hilarious delivery. As Cecily Cardew, Leah Gauthier is also strong and delivers a largely enjoyable performance. Both, however, seem to overdo their performance almost stretching to melodrama in an attempt to pull a laugh. Benjamin Potter and Jessica Potter, as Jack Worthing and Gwendolen Fairfax respectively, struggle in their roles and appear unnatural and staged. There are moments where their strengths shine through but these are few and far between. This could have been down to opening night nerves and might improve as the season goes on.
In smaller roles, Miriam Fietz and Michelle Hravitin are more reserved, but this is not a bad thing. They offer strong foils to the more extreme characters around them, making the most of the short moments they are on stage. Josh White as the Pastor leans toward overacting with extreme hand gestures and movement distracting from other positive elements of his performance. Haylee Potter and Laura Breuker serve well in their roles and manage to fill their time, even though the play gives them little to work with – a solid achievement.
Production elements are inconsistent and, at times, nonsensical. The costume design is good but does not find the balance between the play’s original time period and the modern day. Algernon’s costume perfectly suits his character but Gwendolen’s Act 2 costume does not make any sense in the overall context of the play. The set design serves its role well but the need for an extra interval to change the set is clunky and slows down an already long play. Several lighting cues were missed on opening night and the lights dimmed awkwardly throughout to accentuate the projections. Hopefully this will smooth out as the season goes along.
The overall quality of this production is difficult to identify. The slapstick humour is delivered well and many of the elements work very well. Unfortunately, there are other elements that cause the production to become clunky and awkward. Fifth Business Theatre offers a pleasant and fun night out but not the best way to see Wilde’s classic.
Reviewed by Nathan Quadrio
Rating (out of 5): 3
Venue: The Mask Theatre Tyndale Christian School, 50 Fern Grove Blvd, Salisbury
Season: 19 February – 27 February
Duration: 2 hours
Tickets: $10 – $15
Bookings: Book through FringeTix online or at a FringeTix box office (booking fees apply)
http://www.adelaidefringe.com.au
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