The “Irish” actor, dramatist, designer, writer, and impresario Micheál Mac Liammóir was actually born in Willesden, North London in 1878 and christened Alfred Lee Wilmore, his family having no Irish connections whatsoever! His life was almost as colourful as that of Oscar Wilde; Micheál emigrated to Ireland in early adulthood, having learned the Irish language, changed his name, invented Irish ancestry, and successfully maintained a fabricated identity as a native Irishman born in Cork. He founded, with others, the Gate Theatre in Dublin and wrote three one-person shows, of which The Importance of Being Oscar was the most celebrated.
Compiled in 1960, it intersperses excerpts from Wilde’s plays, poems and other writings with biographical highlights of his life, rather skating over the time he spent in Reading Gaol. We know how Mac Liammóir performed it because there is not only an audio recording but also one made for television by RTE in 1964 (advertised in the programme). The author continued to tour it to Broadway and elsewhere until his death in 1978. It depicts Oscar as a “likeable charmer and a literary genius“, noting but not denouncing a “curious” aspect of his character.
Alastair Whatley’s portrayal is very calm, understated, and low-key. He is always audible, but this does mean that the audience has to concentrate throughout! The pace is very even, which is inclined to become slightly soporific, even hypnotic at times. He is at his best when he is acting out the various excerpts from Wilde’s plays, especially the extended scene from THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST, which was surprisingly amusing considering how familiar it is.
Wilde’s life story is also interspersed with some of his poems, especially The Ballad of Reading Gaol, plus a long extract from his eighty-page letter to “Bosie”, De Profundis. This seemed to need more animation than it received in order to maintain the audience’s attention throughout.
Whatley is a very competent actor, but in his efforts not to copy what Mac Liammóir did on stage, he seems to have gone too far the other way and taken some of the drama out of the piece. Director Michael Fentiman needed to ensure that there was more light and shade and variations of pace in Whatley’s portrayal of Wilde, subtle though that is, and he deserves much praise for a great feat of memory, the piece running for 115 minutes including interval.
Very effective lighting is by Chris Davey and the simple set and gorgeous velvet suit that Whatley wears are the brainchild of Madeleine Girling. It is a shame that an apparently loose electric cable runs the width of the floor in the first half – one keeps fearing that Whatley is going to trip over it!
An interesting evening, especially recommended for those who know little of Wilde’s life and works.
Review by John Groves
Oscar Wilde was a dandy of speech, a dandy of manner, a dandy of dress, and a dandy, even, of ideas and intellect. He fell in love with eccentric socialites, travelled to America with nothing to declare except his genius, and found worldwide success as a playwright. This is the story of how his life of fame, glamour, and romance led him to become an imprisoned outcast.
Alastair Whatley – Oscar Wilde
Michael Fentiman – Director
Micheál Mac Liammóir – Writer
THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING OSCAR
An Original Theatre and Reading Rep Theatre co-production
Jermyn Street Theatre
28 March to 19 April 2025
