Lady Wildermere’s Fan Review

Lady Wildermere’s Fan

By Oscar Wilde,

Adapted and directed by Alan Stanford

Pittsburgh Irish Classical Theater at the Charity Randall Theatre

JoAnn R. Forrester

Empress of Biz, Listen, Learn & Prosper

S. I. Business Associates

The opening night presentation of Lady Windermere’s Fan by Oscar Wilde was a satirical delight.  Alan Stanford adaption of the play, changing the time period from the 1880’s to 1947 was just the right thing to do. It is still a time where the British upper class clings to the Victorian values with all its trappings and hypocrisy and yet the setting is a bridge to 70 years later in the 21st century.

In Lady Windermere’s Fan the “appearance “of things are so important.  Good women, like children, are to be seen, but not heard.  They are to play their part, hostess, mothers, daughters with the main goal of preserving and enhancing the family status…as the “right kind of family”.   Jodi Gage is delightful as Lady Windermere, the trusting, naïve, trusting, non-thinking wife who is dedicated to all the ideals of a proper upper class wife.  In the opening act everything is so perfect, so proper, so refined…you know her life is bound to be disrupted…and of course it is.or we would not have this tongue in cheek romp. 

Lady Windermere husband so aptly played by Leo Marks is rumored to spending a good bit of time and money with a certain woman, a Mrs. Erlynne, wonderfully played by Nike Doukas, a woman with an uncertain reputation.  Through a series of maneuvers Mrs. Erlynne and Lady Windermere meet and the turn of affairs is fascinating to watch.  The woman of questionable reputation and much “charm to men” and the ideal wife form a fascinating relationship where one”saves” the other.  You have to go and see it and immerse yourself in the sly wit and sharp insight of Oscar Wilde as he delves into “mores of high society”.  

A couple of notes on the clothing and scenery…. it is perfect for the period.   In our fashion less sense, too tight, too short, too low or too sloppy dress era it is a treat to see the clothing.  How I wish we could bring back some of the style and class of the dresses.  It is one thing the British upper class still have on us…they do know how to dress elegantly.  The scenery for each set is moved about so perfectly.  The men are dressed in tuxedos and project an elegant air as they move furniture and walls around to set the stage.  It was fun to watch. 

The Pittsburgh Irish Classical Theatre is an exception theater company and well deserving of our support.  Every time I have gone to a play by PICT, I have walked away saying to myself “Wow, what an excellent theatre company.  Go and enjoy Lady Windermere fan and be prepared to laugh and enjoy the insights to the human characters by Mr. Oscar Wilde. 

Roving Pittsburgher Good News Reporter, JoAnn Forrester is the Host of "Empress of Biz, Reinvent in Rugged Times," a business Talkcast syndicated on PPLMag, Pittsburgh's First Internet Radio and TV Network.  You can hear JoAnn and Business friends every Thursday at 9 AM on the TalkShoe network or archived later at:  http://pplmag.com  Jo Ann is also a regular business tip columnist at the Pittsburgh Business Times.