More sex,The Importance of Being Earnest - Town Hall Theatre, Galway lies and cucumber sandwiches

Oscar Wilde's dictum that "the only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about" may well be coming back to haunt us. The past two years has seen two of his plays adapted for the screen while the playwright himself has been the subject of a biopic and of a colourful statue in Dublin's Merrion Square. Town Hall Theatre's sprightly new version of The Importance of Being Earnest provides another timely reminder of the re-emergence of Wilde as a serious contender for the title of comic dramatist of the millennium.

There is nothing overly radical or subversive about this production, however, and it rarely veers too far from Wilde's heady mix of sex, lies and cucumber sandwiches. This lack of innovation means that there are times when the play teeters dangerously close to the blandness of the same sandwiches. The production was spiced up, though, by some explosive acting and by a dazzling dialogue laced with innuendo and double entendre. The fast-paced battery of marriage proposals, relatives lost and found and dead-pan one-liners was a joy to watch. David Murray (Algernon) and Joe Hanley (John Worthing) combine magnificently with Lisa Dwan (Gwendolen) and Jade Yourell (Cecily) to ridicule the amatory affairs of high society with devastating effect. Fidelma Cullen is superb as the indomitable Lady Bracknell, while the rest of the cast hardly puts a foot wrong. Michael Hunt's direction has a leisurely feel, while Alison Nalder's sparse op-art set is nothing short of magnificent. The costumes of Monica Ennis and Michael Byrne's lighting also add to the evening.

Runs until Saturday (booking at 091-569777). Tours next week to An Grianan, Letterkenny, then to the Civic Theatre, Tallaght (November 22nd-27th), Belltable, Limerick (November 29th-December 4th), and the Watergate, Kilkenny (December 7th-11th).