The Importance of Being Earnest - Emily Salamanca

The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde is enjoyed best when the actors feel comfortable in their roles and the audience accepts the nuances of an old, slightly out-of-context play. The University of Kentucky’s production of Wilde’s original script at the Singletary Center for the Arts not only captured the show’s deep irony, but also its light-hearted humor.

The performance on October 17, 2015 at 7:30 pm was the second to last showing, but this was not obvious. The actors portrayed their characters with the same intense emotion and expectation as one would expect in its first rendition. At the end of the play, when Gwendolen Bracknell (Cassady Gorrel) and Jack Worthing (Curtis Lipsey III) embraced one another at the back right of the stage, while Cecily Cardew (Alexis Slocum) and Algernon (Peter LaPrade) mirrored them on the left, both sets of couples reacted naturally to the tension when Lady Bracknell (Jessica Agro) was deciding the fate of her daughter’s engagement to Jack. The couples reacted not only to the Lady, but also to their respective lover. This made the scene crisp, as the audience and the actors seemed to receive the answer at the same moment. No one reacted too soon or with too much expectation.

Lipsey carried off Jack Worthing with a particular ease that anchored many of the other, more eccentric characters. His reactions to LaPrade’s absurdity about Bunburying were particularly stellar. While LaPrade graced us with a very dramatic spiel about the process, Jack did not rise to the level of energy and instead merely dismissed his friend. This dismissive attitude kept the humorous speech at a more natural level and prevented the play from trying too hard to be satirical. In regards to his lover, played by Gorrel, Jack continued his relatively stoic behavior. He embraced her, but never fell head over heels and made the love story sappy. Outside the context of the play, Jack would have seemed more passionate, but in relation to the other characters, he kept his charm.

LaPrade gave perhaps the most convincing performance of all. Unlike Lipsey, LaPrade accentuated the absurdity in his character, but still kept Algernon intelligent and shrewd. When indulging in the muffins, LaPrade made a particular point to chew hastily, but without distracting the audience. The audience could understand his faked British accent with an ease; his voice was frankly pleasant to the audience, especially in comparison to the shrill voice of Agro’s Lady Bracknell. LaPrade pumped a lightness and humor into his boyish performance that was necessary to relieve the seriousness conveyed by Lipsey.

Agro vivified Lady Bracknell with an over-annunciation that left every audience member chilled to the bone. She was stiff, vaguely cranky, and hilariously proud of her status and her accent drew the attention we all know Bracknell herself would command. By contrast, her daughter Gwendolen would have faded into the background were it not for her faint giggling, gentle blushes, and obnoxiously blue dress. Gorrel came off a bit dopey, but this could be to highlight the infatuation her character had towards Jack. Still, this seemed a bit forced, especially since Jack called her, “…a sensible, intellectual girl! the only girl I ever cared for in my life…” Perhaps Jack’s statement was meant show how in love he was, rather than the truth of Gwendolen’s personality.

Cecily, unfortunately, also became a bit stereotypically ‘blonde’. However, I found her performance more convincing than that of Gorrel. Cecily had her head up in the clouds and her slight immaturity mirrored Algernon’s personality quite well. As she posed for Bracknell to stare her down, she seemed almost doll-like. When she plopped sugar into Gwendolen’s tea, she seemed snarky, but not wrathful. As her heels clicked across stage, I had no trouble identifying her quirky disposition and wakeful personality.

Miss Prism (Emma Stumpf) and Reverend Canon Chasuble (Taha Mandviwala) kept a severe concentration on their duties as tutor and preacher, respectively. While Stumpf kept her stoicism in check for the entire performance, Mandviwala promoted the Reverend’s sneaky duplicity in a way that was not laugh-out-laugh funny, but added yet another satirical layer to the play. His demeanor made his ridiculous lines even more hilarious. He never noticed his own absurdity.

The series of coincidences that are revealed at the end of the performance were delivered with an incredible fortitude. All of the characters reacted in an innate way. Jack became elated when her realized that he was, in fact, Ernest and that Algernon was his true brother (a moment that brought that broke the fourth wall, since Lipsey and LaPrade were obviously not of the same race). However, the reaction from Algernon was surprisingly understated. Obviously, this was Jack’s omega point, but I think Algernon should have acted in a more inflated manner, given the way LaPrade chose to convey the character.

Lane (Michael Main), Merriman (Wright Williams), and the added maid (Faith Gingrich-Goetz) helped carry the overly stiff and noble atmosphere. What Victorian society would be complete without the relationship between the aristocracy and its loyal servants? The minor characters were convenient for simple scene changes and funny side characters that held distinctive personalities of their own. Lane, obviously the most well-developed, provided a nice cushion for Algernon’s exuberance.

The costuming was somewhat gaudy, but I assume that this was to further point out the absurdity of the aristocracy. Only Ernest and Prism seemed dressed for quotidian life, while Algernon, Lady Bracknell, and Gwendolen obviously were trying to show their wealth. Unfortunately for the costuming department, Gwendolen’s dress popped a seem at the back, proving to be a little funny for the audience. The costuming was smart, but perhaps a bit overdone. The bright lights during Cecily’s garden scenes hightlighted the shiny material of the women’s dresses and the dimmer lights at Algernon’s study provided ample light to the men’s contrasting fashion senses.

The set, on the other hand, was sparing, perhaps because director Christina Ritter wanted the audience to envision a scene much more elaborate than a UK theatre budget could amply provide, or just because Guinol Theatre happens to be quite oddly-shaped. Regardless, the lack of set was hardly a problem, as the actors used every inch of space in the square enclosure. Excess set would have been deliberating for the actors.

The UK performance of The Importance of Being Earnest ended up being a great production that stayed true to the original published manuscript and dealt with the humor wittily. The actors portrayed their characters with ease. When they rejected naturalism in exchange for a sense of aristocratic ignorance. One could barely tell that the actors were merely students. In general, I agreed with all the artistic details that Ritter decided to add. I would give the performance an A- since it was a good production overall, but torn a bit at the seems. Quite literally.