The Importance of Being Critical – this glorious madcap opera hits new highs | Opera

AAnyone who has seen the opera will recognize the long white dinner plates, filled with the familiar condiments. Anyone who knows A play by Oscar Wilde will recognize its punches, edited by the author Gerald Barry being a kind of staccato mashup between speaking and singing. But in Jack Furness’ new production of Barry’s The Importance of Being Earnest for Garsington Opera, familiarity is avoided.

Barry has already turned Wilde’s “little play for wits” into what he calls an “opera of delirium”. The singing provides another dimension, the orchestra scores another source of intelligence, and the stage business becomes more sophisticated. Furness’s additions include a grand piano on the legs, a kangaroo that reaches a bad end, a large chaise longue-cum-slide (which meets the dramatic explosion of the play during dinner), a dirt floor and a working hose to allow the opponents to be distracted by mud, small drops and drops. The result is a kind of nightmare, the pace is slowed by all these efforts to shake it up, the drama has become painful.

Hannah Wolfe’s colorful clothes stand out in the dark. Algernon wears a bowtie and his silk PJs, Gwendoline has elaborate dresses with subtle nods to 1890s silhouettes, Miss Prism wears trouser trousers and pointed shoes with her Victorian-inspired outfit. Cecily’s clothes are pretty and pink.

Perhaps inevitably, Lady Bracknell’s appearance was the biggest laugh of the evening. Played by Garsington regular bass-baritone Henry Waddington, he boasts a gray bob, lips and beard. First appearance in a trouser suit, later as I can explain Bismarck-goes-dominatrix, complete with shiny latex cape and military helmet, keeps a gun in her Thatcherite bag. Waddington’s deadpan ability was important, as was his lively presence and the dramatic setting with voiceovers in English and German.

The musicians were a true group of musicians. For Seán Boylan’s Algernon, Zahid Siddiqui’s Jack and Holly Brown’s Gwendolen, good communication, good interpretation and the ability to spit tea on command go beyond the ordinary business of creating tones – even Jennifer France’s Cecily squeals and screams like a perfect soprano. Susan Bickley was wonderfully touching as Miss Prism, Kevin Whately’s lovelorn turn as Dr.

Douglas Boyd led the small Philharmonia Orchestra (across the stage) in the famous story of Barry’s score, great comedy and all. If Furness’s producers have seen the laughs diminish, the recent release of this opera is a testament to the fact that they have achieved the ultimate goal of today’s theater: a life beyond the first play.