The Importance of Being Earnest, Mansion House, York July 11 to August 17

The run sold out, setting in motion a following for the site-specific York company that built further with Sherlock Holmes And The Speckled Band in the Treasurer's House last November and Agatha Christie's Witness For The Prosecution in the York Guildhall Council Chambers in April.

All three were produced by company founder Rebecca Stafford and directed by Samuel Wood, former associate director at Shakespeare's Globe, who has now become artistic director of Theatre Mill.

He marks that appointment by not so much reviving Wilde's "trivial comedy for serious people" as re-imaging it for a new production that opens tomorrow.

Instead of two rooms in the Mansion House, he will now use one and the setting is re-located to the roaring 1920s, an age of swinging jazz, social extravagance and high fashion that will be represented by associate artists The After Hours Ruachestra swing band.

Only one cast member, Mandy Newby's Miss Prism, returns from last year, while Liam Tims and Adam Elms re-unite after their Theatre Mill debut as Sherlock Holmes and Dr John Watson to play John (Jack) Worthing and Algernon Moncrieff respectively.

"It was always on the cards that we would do the show again and I was interested in shifting it forward to the post-war 1920s, particularly for the women, as women over the age of 30 had secured the right to vote by then, and the women are so strong in this piece," says Samuel.

"Miss Prism, Cecily Cardew's tutor, is very much of the old era but the new women of the new era fascinated me. Gwendolen Fairfax and Cecily Cardew know what they want and woe betide if they don't get it.

"Lady Bracknell is formidable too, so it's interesting to see how they all react in this era. They have a licence to go further and the cast will do that."

In particular, Prue Gillett's Lady Bracknell has carte blanche for a fresh interpretation of this most familiar of roles.

"Whenever I've seen this play done, primarily Lady Bracknell seems to be a vision of an earlier era, but I don't see that at all," says Samuel. "She's at the height of fashion, very forceful in her role in high society and not clinging to a bygone era at all. Our Lady Bracknell has a very smart, crisp bob haircut, which I love because it's not traditional; it's forward thinking."

The equally progressive choice of music soon dropped into place.

"When I was rehearsing Witness For The Prosecution in March and April, I stopped one day to listen to this band, The After Hours Rauchestra. They were busking in the York streets and though it was spring, they made it feel like summer. I looked them up online and then invited them to meet up; they' were very keen to do it," says Samuel.

"We couldn't integrate last year's musicians into the rehearsals, but this year I wanted to integrate the swing band into being part of the play's world and to have a relationship with the characters and actors."

Designer Natalie Roe welcomed the switch to the Twenties. "Natalie's favourite design period is Art Deco, so she was delighted by what I wanted to do with the setting," says Samuel.

Her task has been to focus on one room. "We won't be promenading this time; it's all in the same space and we've gone for the State Room, the big banqueting hall," the director continues.

"One of the skills I've discovered is how to move a play smoothly from scene to scene but moving it between two rooms robs it of that. I also felt last summer's audience were jarred out of the play by moving."

Once change Samuel has noted since last summer is the company's status among the acting community. "We were new and unknown last year but we now have actors coming to us asking to audition, rather than us having to ask them, which is a strong place to be," he says.

It may surprise you to learn that "it wasn't an intentional decision at all" initially to cast Liam Tims and Adam Elms in their roles as Jack and Algernon.

"My instinct was to get them to read the other part to what they're now playing as Adam's Watson had been the solid character and Liam's Sherlock was a little manic and crazy," says Samuel.

"So the obvious thing was to put them in the roles we're already used to seeing them in, but actually when we read it, it was clear we should do it the other way round.

"We've seen Adam playing straight but he has this marvellous mischief and humour about him, which suits Algy, and I knew Liam would be able to do something interesting with John Worthing, who's a playboy, goes out on the town with Algy and gets drunk."

It all adds up to making a play that is done so often memorable once more. "I think we can do that," says Samuel. "Every ingredient you put in makes a different cake."

Cue afternoon tea.

Theatre Mill presents The Importance of Being Earnest at the Mansion House, the Lord Mayor of York's residence, from tomorrow until August 17. Tickets cost £22.50 to £30 on 01904 623568 or at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk

An Early Birds ten per cent discount is available for July 11, 12, 13, 16 and 17; quote Earnest1 at the box office. Afternoon tea can be booked at theatre-mill.co.uk