The Importance of Being Earnest (Noël Coward Theatre) Review
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Hay Brunsdon
High energy, high camp, and fabulously unhinged: Wilde’s wit is fully unbuttoned
There’s clearly an appetite for what I like to call ‘Light Neo-Regency/Victorian Smut’ right now, with Bridgerton fever still high and Dolly Alderton’s new take on Pride & Prejudice on the horizon. Into that neatly slips The Importance of Being Earnest at the Noël Coward Theatre—perfectly packaged up in a #FrockLit handbag and fully riding the ‘drawing room and cucumber sandwich core’ wave. Think parlour flirtations, lightly-laced petticoat wit and semi-scandalous corset comedy.
This is Max Webster’s camp, riotous production that won a slew of five-star reviews earlier this year at the National Theatre and the transfer has lost none of its sparkle. Oscar Wilde’s most famous comedy of manners—where bachelors John Worthing and Algernon Moncrieff create fictitious identities to escape social duties and pursue romance—unfolds here with irreverent flair. The plot may hinge on mistaken identities and secret engagements, but it’s the energy of this staging that polishes the dust from this drawing-room drama and keeps the audience far from snoozing.
Olly Alexander makes a magnetic Algy. Forever working his way through trays of muffins and cucumber sandwiches like a posh Paddington, his impish wit fizzes through every exchange, while Nathan Stewart-Jarrett’s John brings high-octane energy and hilarious timing; they bounce off one another with pure comedic chemistry. Stephen Fry as Lady Bracknell is, of course, a hoot—imperious, arched-eyebrow authority with just enough camp excess.
Yet the real standout for me is Kitty Hawthorne as Gwendolen Fairfax; she electrifies every scene; fiercely flirtatious and deliciously commanding, each ‘Earnestttttt’ a growling delight. Her meeting with Cecily Cardew, played by Jessica Whitehurst, was pure comedy gold. And Whitehurst channels Cecily’s fevered imagination to perfection, with her diary full of romantic fantasies, a self-invented engagement, and the delightfully unhinged audacity of a girl who’s already ‘broken off’ a fictional betrothal. The audience was howling.
Set and costume designer, Rae Smith, delivers a visual treat: stucco plaster and neon chaise longues meet floral arrangements and jazzy waistcoats straight from Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen's Pinterest board (I’d imagine). And I mean that in the best way possible.
Costume-wise, John is in head-to-toe tweed one minute before rocking up in an English country garden in full black mourning regalia the next; skulking in the rose bush like a fabulously out-of-place Grim Reaper. And Algy swans about in linen, lace, and clashing neckties (forever overdressed and overeducated). The ensembles alone tell you everything about these men and their delightfully absurd deceptions. One glorious moment sees Algy rifling through his post, muttering “Savoy, Savoy, Savoy, Vauxhall Tavern”—a cheeky nod to London’s queer nightlife that sends the audience into stitches.
This production proves Wilde needn’t be polite drawing-room nostalgia. Here, his wit feels current, his satire alive and his characters gloriously unbuttoned. It’s The Importance of Being Earnest done not just faithfully, but fabulously.
P.S. This has got to be the campest opening scene in the West End right now. Think Olly Alexander as a lip-biting coquette, astride a piano, donning knee-high socks and pink tulle aplenty. Iconic. No notes.
The Importance of Being Earnest is playing at the Noël Coward Theatre until Sat 10 Jan 2026. Book your tickets today.