Review: …Earnest?, Crucible Theatre, Sheffield

The lights come up on a Victorian set as a production of The Importance of Being Earnest begins. After a few lines of Wilde’s dialogue, Algernon (Guido Garcia Lueches) and Lane (Rhys Tees) gesture to the door in anticipation of Ernest’s first entrance. He fails to appear. The show’s director, Simon Slough (Josh Haberfield) clears the stage and heroically kills time before sheepishly admitting that the actor playing Ernest is missing.

Now the real fun begins as Simon brings up the house lights to find a replacement from the audience. After rejecting several potential Ernests he selects a lady and sends her backstage to be costumed and the play restarts. The audience is in hysterics as the actors interact with the new Ernest as she attempts to play the role with their manic assistance while being clueless about what she is supposed to do. The proposal to Gwendolen (Trynity Silk) is hilarious as ‘Ernest’ mysteriously finds an engagement ring in his pocket.

When Lady Bracknell (Judith Amsenga) interrogates ‘Ernest’ it’s clear the replacement doesn’t know that the character was found in a handbag in Victoria Station and frantic miming and whispering from the cast and the audience result in a massive cheer when the new Ernest finally works out the correct answer.

When a script for Ernest is eventually found, hapless stage hand, Josh (Ben Mann) sends it flying across the stage. As the show progresses more and more characters have to be replaced by audience members following desertion and mishaps.

One highly amusing scene has the replacement Cecily (a very sporting male audience member in a very fetching pink dress) being made to repeat a scene until it is to Lady Bracknell’s liking, which results in Gwendolen repeatedly having to drink tea mischievously laced with alcohol until she is unable to continue and is replaced by yet another man from the audience. Elsewhere we see two audience members playing a priest and a governess miming to hilarious dialogue provided by Tees from the auditorium. The show is full of fabulous moments like this.

When the real Ernest, unlikeable soap actor George (Ashley Cavender) finally reappears at the end to take back his role, the audience is again given the choice on who they prefer. Insulting Sheffield did him no favours!

Complete credit to this incredibly talented ensemble of actors who are kept on their toes constantly with the unknown reactions and responses from increasing numbers of audience members on stage with them. The show is slick and clever and the actors always appear to be ready for whatever happens, especially Haberfield who literally directs the action from the auditorium to ensure it doesn’t deviate too far from the framework.

This show will be different at every performance given so many potential responses from whichever member of the public is selected. It is similar comedy styling to The Play That Goes Wrong series, but much more unpredictable and harder for the actors. The cast must be exhausted after each performance.

Tonight’s audience was with them all the way and laughed and cheered all through it. ‘…Earnest?’ is something very different and I must applaud the creativity and the absolute bravery of Say It Again, Sorry who devised and performed this extraordinary piece.

Directed, Produced, co-written by: Simon Paris
Co-written by: Josh King and Say It Again, Sorry?
Set design by: Trynity Silk
Lighting design by: Catja Hamilton
Sound design by: Max Pappenheim
Costumes design by: Libby Watson

…Earnest plays at Crucible Theatre, Sheffield until Wednesday 21 May. It tours nationally until Saturday 14 June, and then Edinburgh Fringe from 30 July to 25 August.