THE second half of the The Importance of Being Earnest came alive as the actors romped their way through the silliness and delight of the Oscar Wilde play.

The start of the show at the Aylesbury Waterside Theatre was slightly slow as the dialogue seemed heavy and the slightly clumsy play within a play took a while to come together.

But the second half- when the actors actually got down to perform the great work itself- made up for it.

As the cast are older than the characters should be, there is a play within a play premise.

The idea being that the amateur dramatics group, The Bunbury Company of Players, are taking on the Oscar Wilde show as one of their season's productions.

The audience sees the Bunbury Players in rehearsals as they prepare for their big night.

Seeing Nigel Havers swanning across the stage in red Nike trainers and tapping away on a mobile as he played one of the Bunbury actors- Dicky- seemed slightly jarring, especially as he would then flow into the great words of Oscar Wilde.

But at the same time- it did add a twist to a modern classic.

They are such a good looking and talented bunch of actors- I would almost say they could get away with doing the play straight and bypass the fact they are older than the characters should be- as it was when they got stuck into the play itself that it all came alive.

Sian Phillips stole the show as Lavinia Spelman and Lady Bracknell as the great matriarch who looked down on all she surveyed.

The afternoon tea scene in the second half with Cherie Lunghi as Gwendolen Fairfax and Christine Kavanagh as Cecily Cardew was also good fun to watch as they sparred and simpered their way through a witty exchange. Martin Jarvis reignited his role as John Worthing and Nigel Havers as Algernon Moncrieff, which they both played in the 80s.

Seeing them both sat on a bench together looking longingly at their two love interests made me giggle slightly anyway, but their comic timing was also good.

Rosalind Ayres, Niall Buggy, Patrick Godfrey, Hugh Osborne, Carole Dance and Portia Booroff also star.

It's a good show with a talented cast of actors- it could just do away with the Bunbury Players and focus solely on Wilde's play.

The Importance of Being Earnest is at Aylesbury Waterside Theatre until October 11 at 7.30pm with Thu and Sat matinee at 2.30pm. Tickets are £10 to £35 when booked in person at the Box Office or for full details when booking on-line or over the phone visit www.atgtickets.com/aylesbury (bkg fee) or call 0844 871 7607.