After a delightful run at the National Theatre, this high camp production of the classic Oscar Wilde comedy comes to the Noel Coward with a brand new cast led by Stephen Fry as Lady Bracknell, with Olly Alexander as Algerdon, Nathan Stewart-Jarett as Jack, Hugh Dennis as Reverend Canon Chasuble, Shobna Gulati as Miss Prism, Kitty Hawthorne as Gwendolen Fairfax and  Jessica Whitehurst as Cecily Cardew. Opening earlier this week, what did the critics have to say?

The Verdict: While not a five-star sweep, much of the discourse is positive for Max Webster's adaptation. A winning cast makes for a fun and frivolous night at the theatre, as the queer subtext of Wilde's tale is turned up to eleven.

Fluting, acerbic, but also surprisingly warm, Stephen Fry's Lady Bracknell is the trump card of Max Webster's hyper-camp reading of Oscar Wilde's peerless comedy...

Resplendent in purple or emerald organza, he cruises on stage like a bustle-clad battleship, firing witticisms into the audience with devastating accuracy.
- The Independent

It's hard to say who steals the show in this production as the cast are all insanely talented and perfect in their roles.

Pop star Olly Alexander plays Algernon Moncrieff with colour and campness and Nathan Stewart-Jarrett as Jack Worthing is an over excitable puppy. Together the two giggle like school girls and create the perfect cauldron of mischief...I think the stand out performances have to go to Kitty Hawthorne and Jessica Whitehurst as Gwendolen Fairfax and Cecily Cardew, the neurotic, overly sexual but undersexed women, desperate to find husbands.
- West End Wilma

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. Their teatime spat is a hilarious rollercoaster of sugar lump aggression and the erotic possibilities of Victoria sponge.
- The Guardian

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.
- Time Out

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