The Importance of Being Earnest was subtitled ‘a trivial comedy for serious people’ by its writer Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills Wilde. It was to be his last major work; it was on the opening night of its London premiere season that the Marquess of Queensberry made the allegation that led to Wilde’s trial and imprisonment. He never recovered from the shame and the hardship.

The well-known story follows the exploits of Jack Worthing (Earnest) and Algernon Moncrieff as they make their way through life, love, and polite society. There are the double lives and deceptions that give the play its pantomime humour and talk to its themes of gender, identity and sexuality. Teddy Dunn almost plays it straight as Jack and Anna Lindner’s Algy is an adorably outrageous extrovert.

State Theatre Company South Australia’s The Importance of Being Earnest. Photo © Matt Byrne

This new production, directed by STCSA’s artistic director Petra Kalive, is a delight. Visually it’s a treat, with fabulous set and costume design by Kathryn Sproul. The set overflows with cascades of flowers, everything is drenched in a delicious colour palette, and...