Lyric Hammersmith associate director Nicholai La Barrie’s revival of Oscar Wilde’s 1895 mirth-y morality play has flair to spare. Performed by an all-Black cast, in both tone and energy, it follows on the impeccably stylish heels of the National Theatre’s extravagant The Importance of Being Earnest.
The play pivots on the difference between outward appearances and inward realities. The glamorous life of seemingly ideal husband and politician Lord Chiltern (Chiké Okonkwo) looks set to fall apart when Mrs Cheveley (Aurora Perrineau) – a schooldays frenemy of his wife – blackmails him into supporting a fraudulent canal-building scheme by revealing she has evidence that he built his fortune on insider-trading.
La Barrie nails the heady rush of wealthy excess. This is a stunning-looking production, thanks to Rajha Shakiry’s vibrant set and costume design, which draw on a wealth of cultural and high-fashion references. The Chilterns and their coterie of friends and hangers-on live in a world textured like an art gallery.
Script tweaks referencing Hello! magazine and a bookshelf glimpse of a title by gay Black writer James Baldwin add to a setting that’s more of a retro-modern vibe than a concrete era. Ms Dynamite’s music co-exists with letter-writing instead of mobile phones.
There are some exquisitely crafted comic performances, including Tiwa Lade’s doll-like turn as Lord Chiltern’s beady-eyed sister, Mabel, brightly cutting a swathe through everyone. Jamael Westman is also great as Viscount Goring, effortlessly funny while making perfect sense of Wilde’s dandy as a joyfully queer force who simply wants to carve his own route through life.
Okonkwo ekes out some genuine torment from Lord Chiltern’s predicament – including how much harder it is for someone without privilege to break into the circles of the carelessly wealthy – and he and Tamara Lawrance as his wife conjure some tender moments amid all the noise. Unfortunately, a stiff performance by Perrineau dulls Mrs Cheveley’s edge.
More generally, the play gets lost beneath this production’s dazzle, pumping soundtrack and tendency to over-indulge some supporting turns. Its mishmash of past and present inspirations shakes off the tale’s drawing-room dust, but too often overpowers its centre: Wilde’s quippy but fundamentally sincere exploration of the impossibility of meeting public expectations, which feels just as relevant today.
