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OhScar Wilde’s comedy was hailed as a “drama of modern life” when it first premiered at London’s Haymarket Theater in 1895. It is also contemporary in its central, scandalous theme: the hidden corruption of staid MPs.
Sir Robert Chiltern (Chiké Okonkwo) is a popular minister and “good man” to Lady Chiltern (Tamara Lawrance) but his past involves selling a cabinet secret to a baron. This threatens to destroy him if he doesn’t like Mrs Cheveley (Aurora Perrineau).
There are shades of “question money”, and other recent scandals, although the political issues are not as serious as they could be. One lost line makes a parallel to today but Chiltern’s crime is treated as “the sin of your youth” and Okonkwo plays him with aplomb.
However, there are other kinds of confusion at work in the production of Nicholai La Barrie and Black-Black artists. Its first, slow half does not find its pace and rhythm but it gets a big boost of life after this period with the full, colorful and interesting form of Wilde’s farce.
It seems to lead to the National Theatre’s campy production of The Importance of Being Dedicatedin which Lady Bracknell played a West Indian with an accent. The Caribbean twist is very evident here, as is the camp. Some play well while others wear colorful skirts and speak in Caribbean accents. Viscount Arthur Goring (Jamael Westman, impressively louche) is handsome, well-dressed in Pirates of the Caribbean eyeliner. Emmanuel Akwafo, who plays the quietly recalcitrant butler of the Chilterns, is blunt as Goring’s servant and is one of the best. Jeff Alexander, as Goring’s angry father, is another.
The production emphasizes the absurdity of the gang’s no-nonsense, polite gang and its drawing-room cartoons, making the show seem like a mockery. Goring’s middle name – Jesús Mohammad – reflects his international reputation. Other references in the script add to the adaptation, from Beyoncé to Barack Obama.
There’s a modern touch to the soundtrack with numbers by DJ Luck & MC Neat (A Little Bit of Luck), Ms Dynamite (Dy-Na-Mi-Tee) and Ezra Collective (God Gave Me Dancing Feet) set to classic choreography. Rajha Shakiry’s clothes oscillate between period and modern and are both outrageous and beautiful.
The play features Wilde’s strong female characters, such as the strong, independent Mrs. Cheveley, although it is a shame that Perrineau seems wooden and sometimes swallows her words. There is a very subtle Wildean minx in Mabel Chiltern (Tiwa Lade).
His composure is all the more poignant when we consider the great filth that Wilde faced in his life; the play was transferred to the Criterion theater without its name on the program or playbill. This production is a wonderful celebration of queerness. Another Wilde comeback?
