OSCAR Wilde fans will enjoy a play coming to Bridport Arts Centre that takes a closer look at two of the playwright's characters.

Two minor characters from The Importance of Being Earnest are up to their necks in trouble and feature in To Hell in a Handbag: The Secret Lives of Canon Chasuble and Miss Prism, at Bridport Arts Centre on Friday, November 9.

The play had a sell-out run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and embarks on its first UK tour this month.

Its action runs in parallel to Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest and follows two of that play’s minor characters – a country rector and a governess – as their lives of Victorian propriety unravel in a tale of blackmail, embezzlement and false identity, a subversively funny new take on an Irish comedy classic.

The production received four- and five-star reviews in Edinburgh and subsequently toured all over Ireland.

The Sunday Independent called it ‘Wickedly, side-splittingly funny, in a sophisticated, witty and elegant way… a joyous romp not to be missed, a worthy homage to its master and progenitor‘. The Mail on Sunday said ’To Hell in a Handbag is a delight – beautifully written and acted with exquisite comic timing.’

Lisa Wilcock of Bridport Arts Centre said: “If you like Oscar Wilde you’re going to love this. Tickets are selling fast for what is sure to be a great night.”

Contact Bridport Arts Centre for tickets and more information.