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Lady Windermere's Fan, Oscar Wilde This Oscar Wilde favourite, which shows the naively moral Lady Windermere (Melissa McGarva) struggling to come to terms with the supposed infidelity of her husband (James Stokes), is always a pleasure to watch, and this production by The Oxford School of Drama is no exception. Smoothly acted against a spare but effectively elegant set, with a strong lead character who gained in confidence and substance as the play progressed, Lady Windermere's Fan is a smart way to spend an evening. This is a solid production of a funny and gently thought-provoking play, which warns against the perils of rejecting what society terms "morality", whilst hinting at the darker implications of accepting it. The cast in general were polished, barring a few first night stumbles. In particular Catherine Steadman as the Duchess of Berwick, and Stephen MacNeice as Lord Augustus Lorton, gave great comic performances, in spite of the difficulty of convincingly playing characters at least twice their age. Cassie Joseph, as Mrs Erlynne, trod nicely the fine line between her character's "good" and "bad" sides, using to good effect the subtlety of Wilde's script and the play's ambiguous moral message. Oscar Wilde is a tricky choice for drama students; on the one hand you're guaranteed a good turn-out and a lot of laughs; on the other, the demands of 19th century manners and a 19th century script show up any flaws in poise or diction. For the most part, the cast rose to the challenge admirably, and I only wished for a slightly gentler pace, to give the audience time to savour both amusement and emotion. I would have been delighted to see the play go on for longer. As this was my first visit to the Pegasus, I'm anxious to give it the plug it deserves - lovely space, smart production, and terrific value for money - but, seeing as the cast were playing to an all-but-full house on the first night, it seems as though the rest of Oxford is ahead of me. Unpretentious and intimate, the Pegasus is fine venue for budding talent, and is worth a visit, or several, if you haven't been before. Lady Windermere's Fan would be a good start. Susie Cogan 10.02.04 |