The Informationon: `The Importance of Being Earnest'

What Is It?

Christopher Morahan's competent, if slightly underpowered production of Oscar Wilde's 1895 comedy, which opens this year's Chichester season.

Who's In It?

She may look the part, yet Patricia Routledge (right) is a remarkably restrained Lady Bracknell. Rebecca Johnson holds her own as Cecily, with Saskia Wickham suitably regal as Gwendolen. Adam Godley plays Jack, and Alan Cox is Algernon.

What They Say About It

"The production is neither as funny, nor as penetrating as Terry Hands's marvellous staging a few years ago... The biggest success of the evening is Patricia Routledge as Lady Bracknell... she brings a richly comic authority to the stage," Charles Spencer, The Daily Telegraph.

"In some revivals the comic inversions come to seem tiresomely calculated; but Morahan's cast has class and skill enough to keep you amused," Benedict Nightingale, The Times.

"The Routledge Bracknell is a hefty battleship firing far too few comic shots," Nicholas de Jongh, The Evening Standard.

Where You Can See It

The Importance of Being Earnest is at The Chichester Festival Theatre (01243 781312) to 17 July.