This week’s blog is written by Peter Crerar, our accent coach, who is also playing Lane, the butler. Peter tells us about his experiences of Wilde’s wonderful play and gives an insight into his rehearsals so far!
My first exposure to The Importance of Being Earnest was in 1958. I was twelve. Oscar Wilde’s masterpiece had been selected as the School Play and I auditioned. I wasn’t chosen – a gross injustice. Gary Peacock was cast as Cecily. It was an all boys’ school. I went to see the play several months later hoping to witness a terrible flop occasioned by my omission. Disappointingly it was a revelation. So witty, beautifully constructed language, and such outrageous characters. Gary, who had earned my contempt, having nefariously wangled a part destined for me, later unaccountably became my best friend, a friendship that lasted only twelve years, for obvious reasons. Since then I’ve seen Earnest on stage and screen a number of times and always revelled in its style, wit and elegance. So sad that, in parallel with my own experience at twelve, Oscar should have suffered such vilification and disgrace in his lifetime. Happily we are much more enlightened now, in many ways.
When the plan was mooted for Di Fox to direct the piece for Mask, I idly asked her if she had plans for ensuring the actors were well versed in RP (“Received Pronunciation” you Philistines!). She said she hoped I’d help with that. Not in any way arrogantly, as an accomplished linguist and self-professed Shakespeare specialist, I thought I’d be well placed to run a workshop and “support” actors in their struggle to develop an authentic way of speaking Oscar’s lines. Why, oh why, did I agree to that? Well, I knew I might unjustly (modern makeup techniques being what they are) be deemed too old to take on any of the main characters, so I thought this behind the scenes role would give me an excuse to exert power over a variety of deeply vulnerable and grossly egotistical people, always a joy!
Of course nowadays nobody really cares about people’s vowels, diphthongs and habitual glottal stops. Almost none of us speaks RP naturally. We are each the product of our background and we’re all different. So it’s a personal thing – every actor has to battle against specific differences between their normal speech and RP. And it’s been hard. I’ve tried different styles of bullying and humiliation on each of them, in tense one to one encounters, and in public confrontations, accompanied by glowering and muttering. So my previous popularity has sunk to an all time low. But I can take it. If the result meets with the approval of the director (I think you’re wonderful by the way Di), it will all have been worth it. I can crawl back into my hole, lick my wounds and emerge ready to make more enemies in the summer Shakespeare. Tee hee hee!
In the meantime of course I was, against all the odds, offered a proper, worthwhile role, the part of Lane, the butler. What a challenge, especially the line learning! I’ve got them pretty well off pat now. Time for a practice. Here goes. “Yes Sir”, repeated in various different ways. Then, by way of light relief, “No Sir” a couple of times and maybe a “Thank you Sir”. Yes that’s about it. But don’t forget, at the same time I’m juggling with various props and, as luck would have it, now our esteemed Director has introduced a sequence of amazing choreography featuring items of furniture. Was that part of the deal? But I’m getting carried away with the effort of faking the ecstatic delight of it all, which barely conceals the bitter contempt I feel for all those others who have been granted the gift of delivering Oscar to a fawning public. Tcheugh!!
The Importance of Being Earnest is on at the Key Theatre, Peterborough from 11th – 14th April at 7:30pm with a Saturday matinee.
Don’t forget to book your tickets now!
The Lady in the Van 