Tom Dixon and Gurjeet Singh are great as the two Earnests, playing their parts with the sincerity that such farce requires. The cast are all especially strong, as you’d expect from their biographies. At times the northern jokes initially felt cliched, with flat caps and mills, but on reflection it fits cleverly into the farcical nature of the original play. The essence of the play is kept alive, but with a modern twist and northern references scattered throughout. This production, co-produced by the Lawrence Batley Theatre in Huddersfield and The Dukes in Lancaster, moves the play to the north of England and to modern times (thankfully though without any references to the pandemic). It feels inevitable that at least one lockdown theatre production would bring Wilde’s chaotic play to life, so I was intrigued to see how it would be adapted this time. My personal favourite is the 2002 film starring Rupert Everett and Colin Firth playing two friends using the pseudonym ‘Earnest’ – resulting in much confusion and hilarity. Oscar Wilde’s farcical play has had many adaptations, with many more to come I’m sure. A fun adaptation of this iconic play, with the usual mishaps and mistaken identities you’d expect, but told with a modern, northern, twist.
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