Olly Alexander & Stephen Fry excel in panto-style Wilde

Noel Coward Theatre

After a sell-out run at the National Theatre, Max Webster’s ‘queer’ interpretation of Oscar Wilde’s light-hearted romantic comedy has moved across the river to the West End. All the new cast went down well with the critics- Olly Alexander has replaced Ncuti Gatwa, Stephen Fry has become Lady Bracknell. The reviews of the production were similar to the ones that greeted its last outing: some loved the OTT outing of the queer subtext, others felt it didn’t do justice to Wilde ‘s subtle wit. The average rating is almost identical.

Below are extracts from reviews of the West End version. Click here to read reviews of The National premiere.

[Links to full reviews are included but a number are behind paywalls and therefore may not be accessible]

4 stars ⭑⭑⭑⭑

‘it’s the thinking person’s panto this season, and a revival to remember’ declared The Telegraph‘s Dominic Cavendish. Describing its Lady Bracknell, he said: ‘Clad in garish bustle-dresses, Fry, 68, lends his intellectual fluency and towering presence to Wilde’s verbally pyrotechnic and subtly anarchic script. He doesn’t attempt much female impersonation, and instead gives us the crisp, snooty essence of Lady B: demanding, commanding, formidable. This is a stately, mannish creature with pursed lips and a withering stare.’ (Not sure why the reviewer tells us Mr Fry’s age.)

Julia Rank for LondonTheatre declared: ‘pop star Olly Alexander proves himself to be the genuine article as a stage star. Diminutive and fey, his Algernon is like a spoiled-sweet child who knows just how precociously clever and charming he is’. As for Stephen Fry: ‘In full regalia, he resembles the great Hermione Gingold in A Little Night Music, but he doesn’t ham it up and remains grounded, beginning in a fairly mellow mood and building up to the crescendo of “A handbag?”.’ She was also pleased with the look of the show: ‘Rae Smith’s enchanting production design is filled with the bright, often gaudy colours that the Victorians adored.’

The Mail‘s Patrick Marmion spent much of his review of this ‘joyfully exuberant production’ praising Stephen Fry: ‘(he) becomes a 6ft 5in taffeta tank as Wilde’s memorably scathing widow.’ (In point of fact, she wasn’t a widow, she specifically mentions her husband more than once.) Mr Marmion wasn’t quite so impressed by the other big name replacement: ‘Popstar Olly Alexander, from Years & Years, now plays Algie with boyish zip, but some of his gags fail to land and he misses Gatwa’s megawatt charisma.’

Alex Wood for WhatsOnStage thought the transferred production was even better than the original: ‘the take on Wilde’s play about confused identities, deceptions, romances and, of course, handbags, feels tighter, slicker and funnier. A heady shot of a sweet liqueur to help us escape these trying times. Part of the success has to come down to Webster’s direction – deftly mining Wilde’s text for the comic opportunities and rattling along at a necessarily chipper pace, laced with lashings of queer fun.’

Time Out‘s Andrjez Lukowski explained: ‘Webster undoubtedly breaks Wilde’s play, by hauling the subtext up to the surface, and basically yelling THEY’RE GAY at us over and over. But whether you want to look for deeper meaning in the production’s every quirk or simply treat it as a funny, fresh, irreverent way of tackling a comedy that has become mired in sexually repressed cliche, well, that’s entirely up to you.’

3 stars ⭑⭑⭑

David Jays at The Guardian said: ‘Max Webster’s shameless production merrily queers the comedy, shoving subtext from the shadows.’ He described the young people in the cast: ‘The dizzy chaps are cute – Nathan Stewart-Jarrett’s Jack in fine fluster, Olly Alexander’s Algy giving good smirk – but it’s their sweethearts who gleam. Kitty Hawthorne’s fanny-fanning Gwendolen and Jessica Whitehurst’s scowling Cecily both tap the production’s libidinous undertow.’

Dave Fargnoli for The Stage was not enthusiastic about Webster’s approach: ‘There is a certain cheeky charm to all the clumsy cavorting, but it’s too tame and obvious to feel properly subversive, and the intentionally overblown delivery tends to interrupt the exquisitely poised flow of Wilde’s witty repartee.’ He even quotes a line from the play to back his case: ‘“In matters of grave importance…style, not sincerity, is the vital thing.” That certainly seems to be the guiding principle in this big, bright production, which puts shallow laughs firmly over substance.’

The Times‘ Clive Davis wondered if the production had gone too far in its interpretation: ‘Webster is pushing a classic comedy of manners to breaking point. A delicate puff pastry of a play is smothered in dollops of pink icing.’

2 stars ★★

The Sunday Times’ Dominic Maxwell had a miserable time: ‘Never have I seen a show that so conspicuously and so repeatedly busts a gut trying to amuse. And forcible fun is quite my least favourite kind…the campery comes as if by the yard’. He continued: ‘Everyone’s frantic but few actors connect. So it’s slow too. Take Fry: his line readings are exemplary. He celebrates the nuances and rhythms of Wilde’s wit. He has more variety in the role than Sharon D Clarke did at the National, yet without her galvanising sense of disdainful pressure. He just sort of stands or sits there and says the lines. Very well, but he has so little sense of physical presence that he might be a hologram.’

Critics’ average rating 3.6⭑

Value rating 38

The Importance of Being Earnest can be seen at the Noel Coward Theatre until 10 January 2026. Buy tickets direct from earnestonstage.com

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