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Continued present importance
Oscar Wilde’s period piece transcends its Victorian setting and has an acute contemporary message on class and sex divides, says PETER MASON

A Woman of No Importance
Vaudeville Theatre, London

THIS entertaining Oscar Wilde play has been performed only once on the London stage in the past 20 years. A shame, as it’s almost as relevant in these times of social division as it was when written in 1892.

With its consideration of the status of women and its coruscating condemnation of the class system, the play was radical for its era but, partly for fear of alienating Victorian audiences, the original was amended by Wilde to reduce the amount of social commentary it contained.

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