James Quinn will literally be in two minds in Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest at Manchester’s Royal Exchange. For the veteran comedy actor will be playing two roles - Lane and Merriman - in the classic comedy. James Quinn and the cast of The Importance of Being Earnest in rehearsal (Picture: Joel C Fildes) “The production is still very much in the spirit of Oscar Wilde,” said James.
“It’s just been re-set in modern times. The whole thing about this play is that you forget how witty it is, just line after line. That’s been totally retained, all those lines are in there.
” In the original version, James’ characters Lane and Merriman are butlers to two of the main protagonists - Jack and Algie. “In our version, Lane is more of a family friend who looks after Algie and puts up with his excesses,” said James. “He’s quite posh I suppose and isn’t exactly subservient to him.
“Merriman is a gardener but he’s been put upon to do lots of other things. “Lane is more tolerant but with Merriman the idea is that he was a gardener at Great Bridgewater before he retired then got offered the chance to work on this wonderful estate. At the interview it might have been mentioned he might have to do the odd thing on top but he wasn’t really listening.
“But they have him doing all sorts of things which as a master gardener he feels are beneath him. “Having two characters to play is great fun - playing multiple characters is something I have alw.
