The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde
2009-2010 season
Jack Worthing lives in the country and pretends to have a brother in London, called Ernest, so he has a perfect excuse to slip away to the city. Jack's friend Algernon has created an imaginary friend called Bunbury, so that he too has a reason for escaping the tedium of his own social life in London. Problems arise when Jack falls in love with Gwendolyn and Algernon falls in love with Cecily, even though both young women feel that they can only marry a man whose name is Earnest. Added to which there is Gwendolyn’s tyrannical mother Lady Bracknell, who refuses to allow Jack to marry Gwendolyn when she discovers that as a baby he was discovered lying in a handbag, left at a railway station. First performed at the St. James Theatre London on February 14 1895, this comedy of manners is the most famous of Oscar Wilde’s works for the theatre. It is a masterpiece of truth about class and gender disguised as an airy trifle.
Tour de Force Theatre presents this wonderful play in its own unique style, in which comical physical theatre and visual humour match the wit already present in the text. Live music too adds a fresh and contemporary touch to the production, which can be seen in cities around Europe throughout the autumn of 2008.
Tour De Force last produced The Importance of Being Earnest in 2002 and it was a great success.
"Outstanding acting achievements were rewarded by the Trier public with thunderous applause and a standing ovation." ( Trierischer Volksfreund )
Directed by Peter Joucla, this production we hope will not disappoint.
The Cast
Paul Shelford | Jack |
Joseph Macnab | Algernon |
Emily Bowman | Gwendolen/Miss Prism |
Arina Ii | Cecily |
Sarah Finigan | Lady Bracknell/Merriman |
Peter Joucla | Direction/Musical direction |
Rebecca Crofton-Atkins | Costumes & Design |
Loretta Lipworth | Assistant designer |
Loretta Lipworth | Stage management |
Neil Roe | Set construction |
Pippa Tooher | Administration |
2000-2001 season
The first production toured Germany and Switzerland for twelve weeks from January 2001. The Cast included Polly Lister, Vic Bryson, Peter Garfield, Tom Edden and Zita Frith.
A second production toured Germany and the Middle East the following year and the cast included Polly Lister, Tom Edden, Mark Denham, Lucy Atkinson and Georgina Roberts.