Earnest?

Earnest?
The Peacock at Gluttony
Sat 21 Feb, 2026

The stage is set and looking interesting. Two gentlemen enter the stage dressed appropriately for the late nineteenth century and after some initial banter welcome Earnest Worthington to the stage with some flourish. Several times. Alas however, there appears to be no Earnest. The star of the show is AWOL. So, there’s only one thing to do in such circumstances – use whatever resources you have at your disposal. And what do you typically find at live plays? Audiences of course!

Directors are normally invisible, safely hidden in the wings, but in this case the director has no choice but to face the audience, offer apologies, and ask for assistance. And there the fun begins.

Earnest? does more or less follow the plot of the famous Oscar Wilde play that the show is based on, but takes a few liberties with the order of events and the behaviours of some of the characters. This leads to some further awkward outcomes and suffice to say it is not just Earnest that needs replacing.

Consequently, a great deal of improvisation is part of the spectacle, placing enormous stress on the original cast and the poor beleagured stage hand who’s run off his feet cleaning up accidents and making sure props are all in the right place at the right time. He ends up quite the star!

Several very funny devices are employed to assist those new to the stage play their roles – I particularly liked the advice window where we were privy to a conversation between the new Earnest and a cast member giving him tips on how to act.

Liberal doses of slapstick keep things entertainingly silly, and just for once the slapstick doesn’t feel contrived. It feels absolutely essential to save the show!

Things get merrier and merrier, funnier and funnier, and somehow manage to stumble their way to a successful conclusion where cast and audience can share a feeling of great accomplishment.

Earnest? is a great idea, a very brave undertaking, and a really good laugh for all involved. I loved it.

It has to be 5 stars. What? 5 stars for people who’ve never performed before? That doesn’t make sense. Exactly!

This review also published on The Clothesline.