THE MIXTURE of a brilliant playwright, first-rate director, superb cast, glorious set and beautiful costumes is an explosive one, and without doubt BLTC’s latest production hits the heights others can only dream of.
Oscar Wilde’s comedy is pure joy, brought to life with a vengeance by David Weeks’ expert direction. Split-second timing is the production’s hallmark, with every word and nuance given its full emphasis and every movement considered.
Sixteen year old Luke Murphy plays the title role with skill, assurance and maturity, and the scenes between he and his butler, Baines, played with aplomb by Don Gent, were excellent and put me in mind of the fine Dudley Moore/John Gielgud pairing in the film Arthur.
I also particularly enjoyed Mike Satchell’s bungling anarchist Herr Winkelkopf, Eileen Dyson’s splendidly vague Lady Clemetina, Tommy Egerton’s strident Lady Julia and Laura Justice’s perky Nellie, the maid, as all four seemed to capture that Wildean larger-than-life quality.
If you can get a ticket – but be quick, because it’s selling fast – please see this production. You will watch, listen, laugh and enjoy, and for two and a half hours be transported into another world. And that, surely, is what theatre is all about.

Linda Kirkman
Courtesy of the Bournemout Daily Echo