The Importance of Being Earnest

David Suchet was a man born to wear a costume. Who else could have carried off Poirot’s spats with such aplomb? So it comes as no surprise to find him in a frock. But to find him in Lady Bracknell’s frock (and corset) is a rare treat indeed. From the moment he (she) enters the stage, the stalls are almost on their feet. It’s Danny La Rue crossed with the Dowager Countess of Grantham. Not a single beat, or a single chance to throw a withering, beady-eyed look up at the gods, is missed.

Mercifully, Suchet doesn’t hog all the limelight; his fellow cast members are also allowed to shine – some more than others – with Adrian Noble’s direction pushing Wilde’s camp buttons to the extreme, lending the performances a theatricality that could have gone horribly wrong in other hands. The casting of Michele Dotrice as the giggling, almost hysterical Miss Prism is genius – her heaving bosom rising and falling in tune to the well-timed bon mots.

Philip Cumbus’s Algernon takes some warming to, but then it is very hard not to wish for Rupert Everett. However, once you get over the fact that he simply doesn’t appear ‘posh’ enough, it works. Perhaps not as well as Michael Benz’s Jack Worthing, but by the third act they are an inseparable tag team.
The real star is Imogen Doel’s diary-writing Cecily, dressed up as a low-key, ditzy 18-year-old. She plays the Earnest stand-off with Emily Barber’s bettercoiffed Gwendolen to a tee. Over tea. Even for those who know all the words – and many were miming the lines – the production succeeds in making you fall in love with the play all over again.

Richard O’Callaghan’s vicar, Dr Chasuble, is barking, and rightly so. While David Killick’s handling of Lane will ensure he gets a lot of butler auditions. If I have one gripe, it’s that the handbag, presented at the denouement, is just too newlooking. But having already lost them a baby, it’s not going to be responsible for losing them a star.

Until 7 November at the Vaudeville Theatre, Strand, London WC2: 0844-482 9675, www.importanceofearnest.com