Classical Theater Company (CTC) closes out its season (an all too short season in my opinion) with my favorite Oscar Wilde play, “The importance of being Earnest”. I’ve previously covered the Dr Faustus performance back in February.
Typically CTC will tweak classic plays to make them more contemporary and relevant to current events. They chose to do “Hamlet” with a nod to the controversy of the NSA surveillance scandal that was going on at the time. With “Earnest” they didn’t really tweak it as the play takes place in 1895 and is pretty relatable to today’s audience.
“Earnest” was Wilde’s masterpiece and forms the basis of many of the romantic comedy movies of the last 75 years. The misunderstandings, the unspoken loves, the complications are all elements to fans of romantic comedies. Besides that “Earnest” held up a mirror up to Victorian society and exposed some of the ridiculous but all too real opinions and mindsets of the upper class of the era.
The play opens up to Algernon (or Algie) lounging at home. Algie is a lazy and overprivileged young man. He doesn’t work and spends all his time pursuing carnal pleasures. He is expecting his Aunt and his cousin to visit for tea when his friend Ernest from the country shows up. Ernest is similar to Algie in that he also doesn’t work and lives off his investments.
Ernest is pining for Algernon’s cousin, Gwendolyn, and wants to court her but Algie objects due to an incident in the recent past. Algie found Ernest’s cigarette case and it is inscribed “To Jack from his little Cecily”. At first Ernest pretends that this is his aunt but finally confesses that Cecily is his ward and that his name is really Jack. He has been assuming the name Ernest in order to visit London and lead a double life. Far from being horrified, Algie congratulates him for his “bunburying” as Algie calls it. Algie has been doing the same thing but in reverse. He assumes the name Bunbury while visiting the country to carouse and carry on. Ernest tells him about his ward, Cecily, and Algie is determined to meet her but Ernest won’t give him his country address for fear that Algie will corrupt her.
Algie’s aunt, Lady Bracknell, arrives with Gwendolyn. While Algie distracts his aunt Ernest asks Gwendolyn to marry him. She readily agrees but when the subject of his first name arises, she confesses that she loves the name Ernest and would not accept being married to a “Jack”. He then determines to get his name changed at the first opportunity. Lady Bracknell returns. She objects to the engagement due to the fact that Ernest is an orphan and was left in a handbag at Victoria station. As he cannot account for his lineage, Lady Bracknell determines that he is unacceptable and leaves. Gwendolyn promises to marry Ernest even if she has to run away. Ernest gives her his address in the county while Algie listens in secret. Algie calls his butler and gets ready to visit Cecily in the country.
Act 2 begins in the country. Cecily and her governess, Miss Prism, are in the garden preparing her lessons and discussing “Uncle Jack’s” worthless brother Ernest and his latest escapades. Miss Prism disapproves of Ernest but Cecily is thoroughly fascinated. Algie arrives. He tells everyone that he is Ernest and has come to see his brother Jack, knowing very well that Jack is in London. Miss Prism won’t leave them alone but Reverend Chausable arrives and asks Miss Prism out for a walk.
Cecily is fascinated by Algie and tells him that she is quite disposed to marry him. Algie finds himself unexpectedly smitten but when the subject of names comes up it turns out Cecily also adores the name Ernest too and won’t marry him otherwise. Algie decides to get himself re-christened by Reverend Chausable.
Meanwhile Jack arrives in mourning clothes. He has decided to “kill off” his fake brother Ernest. He tells Miss Prism and the reverend that his brother died from a cold in Paris. He asks Reverend Chausable to re-christen him Ernest in honor of his brother. Cecily and Algie arrive and Jack is forced to accept Algie as Ernest or else expose the charade.
Act 3 begins with Gwendolyn arriving in the country. She has run away to be with her Ernest. She meets Cecily and they both find out that they are both engaged to “Ernest”. After getting into a huge argument, Jack and Algie arrive and they have to explain the whole farce to their respective fiancées. Both Cecily and Gwendolyn are furious at being lied to. They break off their engagements.
After making apologies and both pledging to be re-christened Ernest, the men manage to assuage their fiancées anger and restore the engagements.
Just as all seems well, Lady Bracknell arrives looking for Gwendolyn. She still opposes Gwendolyn’s engagement. Algie tells her of his engagement to Cecily and she opposes this until she finds out how much Cecily stands to inherit. But now Jack objects. As her guardian he won’t allow the wedding unless Lady Bracknell approves his nuptials.
Miss Prism arrives and Lady Bracknell recognizes her. It turns out that decades earlier Miss Prism left a handbag with a baby in Victoria station. At first Jack thinks she is his mother but Miss Prism corrects him on this point. At this moment Lady Bracknell informs Jack that he is in fact the son of her sister and is therefore Algie’s older brother. Though she knows Jack was named for his father she can’t remember his first name. After some research, they determine that Jack’s real name had actually always been Ernest and he declares that at last he has realized the importance of being earnest.
One thing I will say is that CTC missed an opportunity here to relate this to the “Peter Pan Syndrome“. Both Jack and Algie are prime examples of males that live for the moment and for their selfish pleasures rather than growing up and accepting responsibilities that their contemporaries are embracing. I feel something could have been done with this.
The play lasted a little over two hours but the jokes came constantly and the time seemed to pass by quickly. A thoroughly enjoyable experience. I can’t wait till the next season of CTC begins sometime in the Fall.
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