'The Importance Of Being Earnest': Live at the Roman Theatre, Verulamium

Written in 1895, ‘The importance of Being Earnest’ from OVO was set in the 1920s and was brought right up to date with specially-selected contemporary music. 

The cast on stage for OVO’s ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ © Elliott Franks

Each of the main characters in The Importance of Being Earnest staged by OVO at the wonderful Roman Theatre in St Albans was introduced by a live band performing nicely-chosen music including Uptown Funk and Where is My Husband? A particularly apt choice was at the start of the second half when the ‘workers’ of the play performed a wry version of the Daft Punk song Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger. I think Wilde would have approved.

However, the scene-stealing performances of Lady Bracknell (portrayed with absolutel confidence and control by Anna MacLeod Franklin) were pivotal. After all, it is Aunt Augusta (truly the ‘Aunt’ of both Algernon/Ernest and Ernest/Jack) who is the link between the “hand bag” and two weddings. The entire cast was brilliant but the whole stage came to life when they were all together.

Great work, by the way, on the scene where everybody hunts through the books for Algie’s father’s name.

The staging of this production was simply beautiful, with perfectly-selected colours and shapes. A fairly rapid set change from town to country (vital to many of the sub-plots and lines in the play) was handled by the cast themselves. The band (including Prism on sax and Chasuble on bass) is very much part of the production and their tour de force came when launching into Lizzo’s Juice for our introduction to Aunt Augusta - unkindly described earlier by Jack as “a monster without being a myth”.

The Roman Theatre at Verulamium is the perfect setting for a summer production of The Importance of Being Earnest (as it was last month for Mark O’Sullivan’s new adaptation of Sherlock Holmes and will be in August for As You Like It). Director Adam Nichols said: "The Importance of Being Earnest is a showcase of what OVO does best: reimagining classic plays in a bold new colour. Glittering, sharp, and beautifully mischievous, it's the summer party you won't want to miss.” 

‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ is playing at the Roman Theatre of Verulamium until Saturday 18 July 2026: tickets are available at ovo.org.uk