Stephen Fry is reportedly in discussions to play Lady Bracknell in a new West End production of Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest, according to the Daily Mail. The actor has been in talks with producers David Pugh and Dafydd Rogers for over a year, with a potential production at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.
Fry returned to the stage last year for the first time in nearly two decades in Twelfth Night at Shakespeare's Globe and the Apollo theatre, overcoming a long-standing stage fright. The production, directed by Tim Carroll, sold out completely and has been nominated for the Whatsonstage award for theatre event of the year, alongside the Olympic opening ceremony and the Globe to Globe season.
If Fry takes on the role, he would join a line of male actors who have played Lady Bracknell in recent years, including Geoffrey Rush in Melbourne, Gyles Brandreth in London, and Brian Bedford in Ontario and on Broadway. Fry described his interpretation of the character as 'a little bit of Alastair Sim's Miss Fritton, clutching pearls; with a mixture of Stanley Baxter's Duchess of Brenda,' the latter a comic character based on the Queen.
