Wilde prosecuted the father of his lover, the Marquis of Queensberry for libel, but the defence found he was gay, so instead Wilde was imprisoned for two years’ hard labour.

He died in Paris aged only 46 – destitute.

This lively satire from Serial Productions – the company that have brought us some of the community theatre’s biggest comedy hits of the past few years – is presented in conjunction with the Stirling Players at the Stirling Theatre, Morris Place, Innaloo. Once again, the group are pleased to be supporting the Heart and Lung Transplant Foundation of WA, with this production.

The two and a half hour witty and absurd performances are on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights at the slightly earlier time of 7.30 pm, with matinées on Sunday 28^th August and 4^th September at 2.00 pm

It is the 1930s.   Act 1 is set in Algernon’s very smart, aristocratic sitting room with genuine Art Deco, quality furnishings (Lesley Sutton). The centrepiece is the famous fan-shaped window and doors of the period.

Act 2 is Jack Worthing’s Hertfordshire, country garden, complete with limestone wall, archway, trellis and garden furniture. Even the edge of the stage apron had miniature privet along its length.

Act 3 is Jack’s drawing room, overlooking the garden, had a dormer window and Victorian furniture.

The set was by George Boyd, Peter Clark and the team. Stirling Theatre’s own team provided the excellent lighting.

       Lane, the butler (Clare Fazackerley) sings as he tidies up Algernon’s flat, in preparation for the arrival of the brusque, controlling Lady Bracknell (Keith Scrivens) and her beautiful daughter, Gwendolen (Amanda Watson). Unexpectedly, Algernon’s (Joe Isaia) best friend, Jack (Rodney Van Groningen) calls around, he has come to tell the self-centred Algernon that he intends proposing to the ever orgasmic, Gwendolen.

     Algernon mentions to upright Jack, that he has found a cigarette case with what appears to be a love message engraved in it – from Jack to a woman. Could it be that Jack is leading a double life? as is Algernon, who has a secret friend ‘Bunbury’.

      The lecherous dandy, Algernon discovers that Jack’s ward, Cecily (Krysia Wiechecki) is now 18 years old, wealthy and ready for plucking. Surreptitiously, Algernon finds out where she lives and decides to pay her a visit, posing as Jack’s brother.

     Algernon calls whilst Cecily is studying with her middle-aged tutor, Miss Prism (Jacqui Warner). Being a typical teenager, Cecily is immediately besotted with Algernon, and so when Miss Prism goes out for a walk with her close friend, Dr. Chasuble the local rector (John Taylor), the passions flow – although the constant interruptions from Cecily’s butler, Merriman (Brendan Tobin) cramps her style.

When I heard that ‘The Importance of being Earnest’ was being staged yet again – I must have seen it more than a dozen times – I asked some of the cast ‘Why?’ and pointed out that they were making a mistake, it had been done to death. OK, I was wrong, very wrong.

Serial Productions are a team synonymous with quality. Being a closed group of well-proven actors, the acting is immaculate, the sets and costumes stunning, and the teching just goes that extra inch. Every aspect from the foyer display to the programme has been considered.

Even though director Peter Clark has won awards for his direction, and is a first class comedy actor, tackling ‘Earnest’ was still major a challenge. The purists may cringe, but Peter has chosen ‘a mild farce’ as the genre. The director has decided not to present the key line of the play in ‘Dame Edith style’, a slight disappointment. As the show progressed, I slowly came to the conclusion that this was probably the style that Oscar had in mind. It got so many more jokes, double entendres and touches of bawdiness than I have ever seen before, and they all worked so well. Hilarious.

Under the supervision of Rob Warner, the major scene change (by the cast) from sitting room to garden took only 60 seconds. At the beginning and end of every scene, Lane the Butler (Clare Fazackerley) melodically sang a few verses of songs from the period. Sound by George Boyd.

The costumes (Nyree Clark) were stunning, from the extravagant, dandyish outfit of Algy to the pastel silks of the young women. Then there was Lady Bracknell, again with stylish clothes, topped with a striking collection of feathered fascinators.

The date of the play has been moved forward 40 years to the mid-thirties, this has allowed for a fresh approach to the usual, slightly stuffy, Victorian approach.

Talking to some audience members, I was amazed how many had not seen the play before. This is a first class comedy, with a very clever set of storyline threads brilliantly presented. Seen it before? Then see it again – and love it.

Two and a half hours of non-stop fun from one of Perth’s best comedy teams.

The first stage production of ‘Noises Off’ starred Patricia Routledge (‘Hyacinth Bouquet’) and Paul Eddington (‘Yes Minister’).

Presented by Serial Productions, the quality team renowned for their comedies, who recently brought us the hugely successful ‘Open All Hours’ and ‘Blackadder’; this riotous play can be seen at the Old Mill Theatre, Mends Street, South Perth until Saturday August 29^th. There are two matinees, one on Sunday August 23^rd and the second on Saturday August 29^th both at 2.00 pm.

Serial Productions are generously supporting the WA Heart and Lung Transplant Foundation.

On the reasonably small stage of the Old Mill Theatre, multi-award winning set designer, George Boyd has managed to construct (aided by Liam Kirwan and Brendan Tobin) a two-storey set, which has to be rotated twice in each show. Considering that this old community theatre has no flies, mechanical equipment and limited resources, this is an unbelievable achievement.

On installing the set, it was found that a cross beam holding the theatre roof up stopped the rotation of the scenery. How was this major problem overcome? George allows the audience to see the second change, which took TWO – yes two – minutes to carry out, consequently receiving a massive cheer from the audience. The stage crew of David Seman, Natalie Watson and Owen Davis were supervised by stage manager, Rob Warner.

Act One is a dress rehearsal of a second rate farce, ‘Nothing On’ on the stage of the Grand Theatre, Weston-Super-Mare. It is set in ‘a delightful 16th-century posset mill’, recently updated by the owners who are now holidaying abroad. The house is now available to let.

The set comprises a Tudor-style sitting room, staircase and upstairs balcony leading to the bedrooms as viewed by the audience. In Act Two we see behind the set, as though looking out through the sitting room window to the audience beyond. The set for Act Three is as for the first Act.

   ‘Nothing On’ by Robin Housemonger (a fictional author) is a poorly written, sex romp that is nearing the end of its rehearsals; however, it is still full of fluffed lines, poor entrances and lost props. There is no hiding the fact that this touring troupe has absolutely no talent, nor has the company’s temperamental director, Lloyd Dallas (Peter Clark).

     We, the audience, watch as the whole of their dress rehearsal is enacted.

     In Act One, the telephone rings, Mrs Clackett (Jacqui Warner) the forgetful cleaner, enters the sitting room carrying a plate of sardines. She explains to the caller that the house owners, over-stressed Freddie Fellowes (Keith Scrivens) and his wife Belinda (Clare Fazackerley) are tax exiles living in Spain, and that the local estate agent, jealous Garry (Rodney van Groningen) is in charge of the letting. Just as Mrs Clackett goes into the kitchen, the front door opens and in walks Garry with Brooke (Krysia Wiechecki), the ultimate dumb blonde bimbo who keeps losing her contact lens. Thinking that the house is empty, he has arrived to show this ‘client’ around the property – especially the bedroom!

     Despite the dedicated hard work of the over-sensitive stage manager, Poppy (Kylie Isaia) and her confused assistant, Tim (Alan Markham) are struggling to keep up, as the props go missing and the production staggers on. At the end of the play, an aging burglar, played by an alcoholic ham called Selsdon (Brendan Tobin) breaks into the house. Being extremely deaf, Selsdon tends to miss most of his cues.

     One month later, the company are performing at the Theatre Royal in Ashton-under-Lyne. Act Two is under way for a matinée performance. We are now backstage, so the audience is effectively watching how the bitchy actors’ attitudes change when they come off stage. We become aware of their secret love affairs, the pandemonium of failing props and the panic created by missing actors.

   Act Three shows the end of the ten-week season, by now the company has reached Stockton-On-Tees. The quality of the show has deteriorated, with everyone passing the blame and at each other’s throats. Eventually, these backstage problems spill into the on-stage performances.

There were two excellent programmes (Scott Print), one for the real cast, the second a fun version of the touring troupe’s show.

A farce must have plenty of doors to aid confusion and mayhem, this show has 9 on two levels, and yet the timing of the dozens of entrances and exits was faultless. Props (provided by Lesley Sutton) such as the whisky bottle and the sardines, moved position every 10 seconds, and still the actors’ actions were immaculate, never missing a beat.

Joe Isaias was brave enough to take on the post of production director, but with his being an award winning actor, he co-ordinated the pandemonia, squeezing the humour out of every situation.

Every actor’s performance was stunning, producing the funniest version of this play that I have ever seen. There were jokes and incidents that have completely passed me by in the past. The pace was at a breakneck speed, hardly giving the audience a second to breathe before the next belly laugh. Most of these actors are producers of their own shows; could this be the reason for the perfection?

Within the play ‘Nothing On’, each actor’s on-stage personality was different to their private demeanour off-stage. Garry was a clear and assured actor, but a stammering highly jealous person behind the scenes – Garry (Rodney) had a painful episode that left me cringing. Brooke fluttered, hilariously, like an egotistical yet damaged butterfly. Director Lloyd was trying hard to have an affair, audition for Richard III and still direct his lousy cast.

The superbly constructed script was clever in the way that a minor incident, such as the mention of ‘blood’ could breathe disaster to Freddie. This would then lead to dissonance amongst the others, as they all fell over like skittles. The final entry of Selsdon as the robber was hilarious as he was ‘shadowed’ in every wooden, overacting pose.

There was some slapstick, but not the blatant in-your-face cream pie, but with unlikely props such as the telephone, contact lenses and the ever present sardines. The well-designed costumes ranged from sexy and attractive, to that of the robbers’ and the cleaner woman were all produced by Clare Wood and Jacqui Warner.

The lighting was by Liam Kirwan and the sound courtesy of George Boyd.

This complex play was so slick at every level that it left the audience breathless and yet begging for more. If you love zany, madcap humour or simply admire advanced theatrical skills, then this is the show for you. This will be memorable for years to come. Stunning.

This very funny two and a half hour, dark comedy by the Darlington Theatre Players, can be seen at the Marloo Theatre, 20 Marloo Road, Greenmount on a Friday and Saturday nights at 8.00 until Saturday 16^th May. There are two Sunday matinees at 2.00 pm.

It is present day in the upmarket living and dining area of the Patterson’s home, somewhere in Australia.

Another magnificent set from George Boyd. The dining area is raised and the table is set for a special family meal. The sitting room area has a comfortable three-piece suite and jarrah furnishings. There are two arches leading to the bedrooms and front door. The director and his assistant, the technical crew, George Boyd, Michael Hart, Dennis Sutton and the stage crew, Graeme Dick and James Dick, combined efforts to build this stunning set. Lesley Sutton has carefully chosen props give a truly authentic ‘lived in’ finish.

Very good, well thought-out, lighting design operated by David Bain. Two large pendants light the area. David has taken the time to light passageways, and when the room door was opened the area beyond was lit up and not, as often seen, just a black void. Chantelle Pitt operated George Boyd’s sound design with precision.

       A spotlight picks out a wall clock and dour Ron Patterson (Ray Egan). Ron explains how three months ago his specialist told him he is dying, and that he had three months to live. Ron took him at his word – not 3 and a bit months, but three months precisely to the minute. Today is the day; he has 111 minutes left to live. His wife Dawn (Siobhán Vincent) has decided to gather the family around for party pies and Pavlova, in an attempt to help Ron tie up the loose ends of his strained family life.

      The lights dim, and seconds later we join Ron’s high flying, businessman son, Michael (Richard Hadler) and his elder daughter, Debbie (Belinda Djurdjevic), 35 and still not married! They are trying to decide why their father has called the family gathering. Could he have discovered that Michael is gay?

      The younger daughter, Karen (Laura Williams) arrives, wearing a miniskirt, bright red shoes and a massive chip on her shoulders. She moans and complains, ‘why is her Dad wasting her time?’, but as soon as Ron and Dawn enter the room, her little pet-lip pouts and they tell her how wonderful she is, so much better than the two disappointing older children.

      Before long, at Ted’s request, a young undertaker (Harry MacLennan) calls to check the funeral details.

This is a hilarious script, and with a laugh about every twenty seconds, it required a first class, inspired director and Brendan Tobin was just the man, most capably assisted by Rachel Vonk. The dialogue was perfectly delivered by a cast that thoroughly understood their characters. All of the personality traits were there, brought to life by great body language and facial expressions. The father’s stern and miserable outlook, the loving caring mother who went with the flow, the petulant and jealous Karen, Michael was anxious and impatient with Debbie trying to be patient despite being the one who is bottom of the family tree. The euphoric undertaker, Ron, just sat with an angelic smile. Rarely I have I seen such a perfectly integrated cast, everyone gets 10/10 for performances. The pace and chemistry outstanding. A massive compliment but thoroughly deserved.

Happy Birthday for tomorrow to director Brendan, you deserve a rest and be pampered.

The laughter did not let up for a moment; sit near the aisle you will need it to roll in. Try to catch it, funniest show in years.