07 August 2014, The Tablet

Classic makeovers


The Importance of Being Earnest Harold, Pinter Theatre, London / A Streetcar Named Desire, Young Vic, London

 
ALTHOUGH ALL modern theatres try to attract new customers, most audiences still consist of the sort of people who go to the theatre. One consequence of this is that classics become familiar, which has led in turn to a fashion for revamping masterpieces. For example, next year David Suchet will play a drag Lady Bracknell in a new production of The Importance of Being Earnest, but, before that, another West End revival of Oscar Wilde’s comedy tries a different new angle.Director Lucy Bailey employs the framing conceit that we are watching a performance by the Bunbury Company of Players, an amateur dramatic group in the English shires. Their production has been much revived with the result that, while their Bracknell is becoming realistically geriatric, the juvenile leads are at least
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