Algy (Ronan Bennett), Cecily (Sadhbh Neville), Gwendoline (Laura Gleeson) and Jack – or is it Ernest! (Aaron O’Connor) The set is being constructed and final rehearsals are taking place for what is set to be the Moat Club’s perfect summer production: ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ by Oscar Wilde. It’s been many years since the Moat Club has staged the play. This iteration is being directed by Samantha Coventry and Mary Newman, experienced actors and directors with the Moat Club and elsewhere.
Wilde’s satirical play was considered the Dublin-born writer’s greatest dramatic achievement. It took London by storm in 1895 when it was first produced and has remained as funny and insightful about the hypocrisies of high society ever since. The Moat Club welcomes some new faces for this Naas production including Ronan Bennett who recently appeared in Ballyduff Drama Group’s All-Ireland winning production of The Ferryman.
Ronan, who is a teacher in the area, plays the role of fashionable man-about-town Algernon Moncrieff. Playing Gwendoline Fairfax, Algernon’s cousin, is Laura Gleeson, while Sadhbh Neville plays Cecily Cardew, Gwendoline’s ‘frenemy’. The rest of the cast are no strangers to the Moat stage.
Aaron O’Connor plays Jack Worthing, who is in love with Gwendoline but precluded from winning her hand due to the mystery surrounding his birth. The redoubtable Lady Bracknell, standing in the way of the lovers, is played with aplomb by Moll Fullam. Can.
