Lady Windermere's Fan

Odd that the notoriously unconventional British wits Oscar Wilde and Noel Coward should write such conventional schmaltz as the latter's BRIEF ENCOUNTER and the former's FAN. At least Wilde flavored his saccharine melodrama with the epigrammatic gems that have kept it stageworthy. The morally supercilious Lady Windermere comes to believe her husband has begun an adulterous affair with an older woman of bad reputation. But a mitigating secret lies in the ostracized woman's true identity. This production, taped before a live audience, begins too hurriedly but eventually finds its pace. The nonpareil Miriam Margolyes excels in a comic supporting role, while lead Roger Rees does not rev up until the second act and Joanna Going is a particularly annoying Lady W. Y.R. (c) AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine