When “The Importance of Being Earnest,” by Oscar Wilde, opened, on February 14, 1895, in London, the date was well chosen. It was the Victorians, after all, who decisively turned the feast of St.
John Cleese causes outrage at 86. He did at 36, too. But many of the people who laughed then grumble a frown-faced “that’s not funny” now. In response to London Mayor Sadiq Khan proclaiming, “British ...