REVIEW: Lady Windermere’s Fan, Vaudeville Theatre ✭✭✭✭
Mark Ludmon reviews Kathy Burke’s hilarious revival of Oscar Wilde’s Lady Windermere’s Fan at the Vaudeville Theatre
Mark Ludmon reviews Kathy Burke’s hilarious revival of Oscar Wilde’s Lady Windermere’s Fan at the Vaudeville Theatre
Hare’s adaptation, the best of the three in the Season, is crisp, charming and comical, thereby magnifying the effect of the more tragic aspects. It’s a markedly short version of the play, and Kent assists the understanding of its contours and colours by interposing interval between Acts 3 and 4. This allows the four central characters of the play to stake out their positions, develop their tensions and alliances, their hopes, fears and dreams; by the time the third Act is over, the various dice have been rolled and Act Four, set two years on, is about consequences; chickens – or seagulls – coming home to roost.
Jim is not the only character whose gender is changed, but his change is the most significant. It’s not that it is a bad or fatal choice – it is, however, a fundamental one. And it puts this Treasure Island firmly in the realm of children’s theatre. No bad thing.
With a striking wood-plank set by Rob Howell and brooding music by Alex Baranowski, this is a sharp and compelling production about families and the need for love.