AN amateur dramatics society will stage an Oscar Wilde comedy at Ponteland Memorial Hall.

Ponteland Repertory Society will stage Oscar Wilde’s comedy The Importance of Being Earnest in April.

Director Philip Browell said: "Earnest is the story of two bachelors who both create alter egos named Ernest to escape their tiresome lives. They attempt to win the hearts of two women who, conveniently, claim to only love men called Ernest."

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"They struggle to keep up with their own stories and become tangled in a tale of deception, disguise and misadventure. It’s a production that has been a long time in the making and so we are all just terribly excited to finally get it in front of an audience."

Mike Giblin, a newcomer to the Society, will play Algernon Moncrieff. "Algy is an 1890’s playboy really and playing a footloose bachelor has been enormous fun – especially when rehearsals are in the pub."

Real-life married couple Jason and Claire Long, play the upright governess Miss Prism and ‘woman-shy’ Reverend Dr Chasuble. 

Caroline Reynolds who plays Lady Bracknell said: "Lady Bracknell is the antagonist of the play, a strongly opinionated matriarch who bullies everyone in her way. She has some cracking one-liners that audiences will recognise and I hope I do them justice."