After The Applause

This wonderful production of Oscar Wilde’s classic play is wacky, charming and endlessly fun!

To my long standing followers you may recognise this title as I did in fact see the original version of this production at the National Theatre in December 2024 and was taken aback by its sensational energy and creativity it infused into Wilde’s play text, playing true to Wilde’s intended homosexual undertones that wouldn’t have been able to be played into when the play was originally written in 1895. When a play transports from a slightly smaller theatre to the West End you worry whether significant changes made will ruin what made it so fantastic, and with a whole cast change included I was apprehensive as to what to expect..

But it retained everything I remembered and is just one of the most joyous and enjoyable nights at the theatre you can ask for!

Max Webster’s direction is just exquisite, he allows his actors to truly lean into the humour written in the script but then adds a dollop of humour on top of this through the physical and facial expression of the actors, they look like they enjoy every second of performing it and that is so important!

The set was exactly how I remembered, it is grand, colourful and beautifully detailed. Rae Smith does a wonderful job also on the costumes, they are traditional and colourful and I believe this colour really encapsulates the joy of the play.

I didn’t mention it in my last review but I thought that the music by D.J Walde was absolutely brilliant, especially in that wonderful opening scene where we watch Algernon engaging in some ‘Bunbrying’ (essentially a word used to describe the engagement in a double life). The music brought scene changes to life, channeling deep bass into classical music that blasted around the Noel Coward Theatre.

The modern infusions into this production are hilarious as well, such as Algernon playing ‘Girls Just Want to have fun’ on the piano at the beginning or Jack singing ‘Your Beautiful’ by James Blunt, I think these are ingenious choices by Max Webster.

Now onto the changes for the West End, it’s a short list (strangely)! Just the cast, and this new bunch are all just as good (if not better!)

Olly Alexander takes on the role of Algernon Montcreif, taking over from Ncuti Gatwa, but he takes the choice to change Algernon to his own liking and I just love it! He prances around the stage with glee, engaging in superb comic chemistry with every character he interacts with. I think Olly is a very good actor, just as he is a great musician for Years and Years, and he thrives in this role! Well done Olly!!

Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, Jessica Whitehurst and Kitty Hawthorne all excel alongside Olly in their roles within the chaotic love circle we witness. Stewart-Jarrett and Olly have such natural chemistry and he was making me laugh throughout. Whitehurst and Hawthorne too have this brilliant chemistry and they both take on their characters with extreme strength, channelling new emotions into the script unlocked by Webster’s unorthodox direction of it!

Hugh Dennis shows a different side to himself, abandoning his deadpan comic expression and transforming into the clumsy Reverend Chasuble and he does it really well, getting laughs just from walking onto the stage at times, indicating how engrossed in the character he was. This was similar with Gillian McCafferty (covering for Shobna Gulati), a very well done performance of Miss Prism and she interacted with Dennis very well adding to the comedy of their odd relationship.

I can’t finish without talking about the wonderful Stephen Fry as Lady Bracknell, oh how you can tell how much he loves this role! He comes on stage with this dignified and almighty presence, every line said with exagerated expression, leaning in to the upper class character of Bracknell. He delivers all of the famous lines in his own way and I have to say he was the complete stand out performance on stage, despite only appearing in 2 scenes separated by the interval he still manages to get a rapturous applause at the end. He is the big dog faithful after all (reference to his appearance in the Celebrity Traitors, if you haven’t watched it yet you should!)

MY VERDICT:

This production absolutely has my heart, I enjoyed it the first time but adored it the next. It works well in the Noel Coward Theatre and the curtain call at the end is just so clever and so ‘Oscar Wilde’. If he was sat in that audience he would be overjoyed at the makeover his work has gotten. I am sure this is exactly what he wanted but just couldn’t produce at the time.

I am sad to say the run finished yesterday but I am sure you all would have enjoyed it, it is again a show for absolutely everyone to enjoy, whether you be a big Oscar Wilde fan, a theatre novice or even born in….. a handbag?! (delivered brilliantly by Steven Fry in this production).