By Gary Shaw

THE latest production by the Moot House Players was the Oscar Wilde classic, The Importance Of Being Earnest. The Players have a local, and even international, reputation for wonderful theatrical adaptions. Their work on this production is certainly no exception. Under the excellent directorial guidance of renowned theatrical polymath Henrietta Branwell, the cast were off to a fine start even before the first rehearsal.

‘Earnest’ is always a joy to behold, but the Players would have made it a real treat to even those seeing it for the first time. For the benefit of anyone not familiar, the moral of this story is that honesty ‘should’ always be the best policy. But with every good tale, expect an interesting journey, great characters and maybe a twist or two!

Credit should and will be given to this fabulous cast: the amazing Clare Quley is a consistently great actor, who never disappoints and gave a faultless performance as Gwendolen Fairfax. Both Dan Powell and Kerry Rowland, get better with every role I see them play. Kerry especially convincing as the teenage Cecily Cardew. Two actors that definitely deserve mention are Harry Tennison as Algernon Moncrieff and Jason Miller as Lady Bracknell. Harry really threw himself in the part and was often ‘re-acting’ to dialogue when others were acting. I do hope that he isn’t a totally ‘method’ actor, who is proposing to a friend’s ward at this very moment!

Jason Miller gave an utterly superb performance as Lady ‘Aunt Augusta’ Bracknell, although admittedly ‘she’ does have all the best lines in the play, but his delivery of them was wonderful and you could tell that he truly relished every moment of stage time he had. Let’s also mention the rest of the supporting cast, with first class work from Michael Branwell and Catrina MacLeay as Canon Chasuble and Miss Prism. Not forgetting the two faithful man servants played by Geoff Leeds and Michael Caswell.

Special mention should go to those lovely people at Harlow Garden Centre and Thalia Jewellery Designs for their services to the props department.

The Moot House Players perform at Moot House in the Stow on a regular basis. Always an excellent variety of plays and styles. I thoroughly recommend that everyone with a fondness for the performing arts get along for their next presentation and every one that follows.