Lady Windermere’s Fan
Vaudeville Theatre. January 25, 2018
First outing for 2018 to LWF which is part of the Oscar Wilde season brought to us by Dominic Dromgoole’s new gig, Classic Spring.
The play itself is a little clunky and that is probably beacuse of the time it was written. It’s men vs women: relationships from the late 19th century (the play was first performed in 1892) and they are clunky. Women are considered delicate little flowers or evil hussies. Men are to be tamed, controlled and domesticated.
So on the face of it, I would usually not like this but I did. Cos it’s Wilde and it’s witty and amusing. And this cast is frankly inspired. Jennifer Sauders is joyous as the Duchess of Berwick, Lord Windermere’s sister. She’s a class comedy act, every arch of the eyebrow, every purse of the lips is perfectly timed and bloody funny.
Samantha Spiro as the “wicked” and wronged Mrs Erlynne is brilliant. It’s a performance that is both sad and funny. It’s fairly obvious what’s going on from the beginning but it’s never actually said and you actually admire her at the end. When you think her sacrifice will destroy her once and for all, she uses her feminine wiles to sashay her way back.
The rest of the cast ably support and there is much hilarity throughout the evening. The standout piece is when it all goes a bit vaudeville (appropriate for the time and the name of the theatre… )in between scene shifts out come several members of the cast, including La Saunders to sing a naughty little tune that had the audience clapping and singing along too. Probably not appropriate for the character of the Duchess but no-one cared. It was glorious.
4/5 A Wilde little evening
