A Woman Of No Importance - 2017 - 7/10

Young Gerald is hired to be secretary for Lord Illingworth.
Unaware that the Lord is his actual father, who seduced then abandoned his mother years earlier.
At a soiree of the gentry, Gerald’s mother, Mrs. Arbuthnot arrives, as does an outspoken American heiress,
This rendition by Spring Theatre is of two halves, and feels like two different works.
The first section sparkles with witty, at times trenchant, dialogue, barbed and cynical.
The second, however, is a confrontation between Illingworh and Arbuthnot.
Wit is replaced by resentment, and bracing accusation of the double standard between men and women.
Very much an early pre-feminist or proto-feminist work.
Plus, a trio of unexpected, delightful songs!