Saturday 10th February

[Sir C]

To The Vaudeville theatre for 'Lady Windermere's Fan', directed by Kathy Burke. I am a great fan of the Saturday matinée performance, allowing, as it does, a chap to indulge in a decent lunch beforehand; so it was that, fortified by a suckling pig and a couple of bottles of Rioja, I eagerly salled to the theatre, keen to enjoy Oscar's bons mots.

How I enjoyed the first 10 minutes of this quintessential Victorian parlour farce! The set, the costumes, the language... I was transported straight back to 1892 and I was walowing in it. Until Lord Augustus appeared on stage. A fine actor, no doubt, and perfectly capable of giving an extremely fine Lord Augustus. Except that, to the consternation of my suspension of disbelief gland, the chap was black and spoke with a Jamaican accent. I was rocked back a bit, I admit, but bit down hard and tried to return my brain to its previous 19th century surroundings, until... in walked Lady Plympton. An enormous African lady who spoke ina barely intellgible west African French accent.

That was me fúcked.

I suppose that being unable to accept this display of tokenism which did nothing other than detract from the play defines me as a racist, in which case, so be it.

What a lot of nonsense.

[Burney]

To The Vaudeville theatre for 'Lady Windermere's Fan', directed by Kathy Burke. I am a great fan of the Saturday matinée performance, allowing, as it does, a chap to indulge in a decent lunch beforehand; so it was that, fortified by a suckling pig and a couple of bottles of Rioja, I eagerly salled to the theatre, keen to enjoy Oscar's bons mots.

How I enjoyed the first 10 minutes of this quintessential Victorian parlour farce! The set, the costumes, the language... I was transported straight back to 1892 and I was walowing in it. Until Lord Augustus appeared on stage. A fine actor, no doubt, and perfectly capable of giving an extremely fine Lord Augustus. Except that, to the consternation of my suspension of disbelief gland, the chap was black and spoke with a Jamaican accent. I was rocked back a bit, I admit, but bit down hard and tried to return my brain to its previous 19th century surroundings, until... in walked Lady Plympton. An enormous African lady who spoke ina barely intellgible west African French accent.

That was me fúcked.

I suppose that being unable to accept this display of tokenism which did nothing other than detract from the play defines me as a racist, in which case, so be it.

What a lot of nonsense.

It's mystifying, isn't it? And completely mad. The whole idea of a period piece is surely that it should reflect the realities of the period?

And, of course, any reversal of the situation would be utterly haram. Can you imagine the reactions to a production of Roots where Colin Firth played Chicken George?

But you have to go along with it or you're a racist. True story.

[Sir C]

It's mystifying, isn't it? And completely mad. The whole idea of a period piece is surely that it should reflect the realities of the period?

And, of course, any reversal of the situation would be utterly haram. Can you imagine the reactions to a production of Roots where Colin Firth played Chicken George?

But you have to go along with it or you're a racist. True story.

It was directed by thon Kathy Burke, so that's something of an explanation. I suppose she'd see it as a duty to ub the Right's nose in diversity...

Jennifer Saunders featured ina supporting role and was really rather excellent, surprisingly.

[Burney]

It was directed by thon Kathy Burke, so that's something of an explanation. I suppose she'd see it as a duty to ub the Right's nose in diversity...

Jennifer Saunders featured ina supporting role and was really rather excellent, surprisingly.

I have heard her interviewed. A genuinely unpleasant person from what I can make out.

[Sir C]

I have heard her interviewed. A genuinely unpleasant person from what I can make out.

Absolutely. Indeed, one doesn't need to hear her speak. She does not have a kind face.