The Importance of Being Earnest Performance Review- Kayla Beebout

           The Importance of Being Earnest is a witty, smart comedy when performed well.  UK’s performance at the Singletary Center of the Arts brought out every point, both humorous and satirical, that Oscar Wilde meant to convey. 

The performance on Sunday, October 11 at 2 pm was not the first showing, which was obvious to see.  The actors were comfortable in their roles, and their chemistry made the scenario very believable.  Many elements of the play were rather difficult, and could either make or break scenes, but for the most part the actors pulled it off wonderfully.  Algernon, for instance, is petty, vain, and cavalier, which could easily turn him into a one-dimensional character.  However, Peter LaPrade turned him into a real man; still a silly one, but one that can be believed.  In the opening scenes, he consumes an entire plate of cucumber sandwiches; this could easily go awry, but LaPrade managed to do it obviously without distracting from the scene.  He managed to deliver the most ridiculous lines with an utterly serious air that left people laughing hysterically in their seats.  Jack Worthing (Curtis Lipsey III) also did an amazing job.  His expressive faces and movements brought the character to life, and he and LaPrade acted like real brothers, even before their characters knew the truth of the matter.

When Lady Bracknell (Jessica Agro) swept in, her daughter Gwendolen (Cassady Gorrell) in tow, their stage presence was instant.  Agro’s accent was flawless, British with just enough of a twist to make her high-brow character come to life.  She portrayed the excessive dignity of her character while the audience laughed, not losing her composure for a moment.  Gorrell was extremely flirty with Jack, flippant about matters of importance, and petulant toward her mother.  However, her ridiculousness might have been a bit excessive, as she was often called “sensible” or “intelligent” by other characters.  That could have been on purpose, however, to poke fun at what the men of the era found attractive in women.  She certainly did a good job of showing Gwendolen’s love for Jack and her strange fascination with the name Earnest.

At Jack’s house in the country, Miss Prism (Emma Stumpf) tries in vain to get young Cecily Cardew (Alexis Slocum) to concentrate on her German lessons.  Her demeanor was suitable for the unmarried intellectual Wilde created.  Her pride in her three-volume novel (and her own cleverness) is only matched by her strict values.  Her attraction to Rev. Canon Chasuble (Taha Mandviwala) was done very well.  Mandviwala himself was an extremely comic figure, his serious demeanor masking the ridiculousness of the words he said.

Slocum, however, had a similar problem to Gorrell.  She might have been a bit too flighty and energetic, even though her character was a silly eighteen-year-old.  She seemed more like a girl of thirteen or fourteen, and her habit of running around the stage was a bit distracting due to the sound of her heels clicking on the wooden stage.  Her attitude did seem more fitting when with LaPrade, since Cecily was supposed to have a childish fascination with the figure of her guardian’s prodigal younger brother.  LaPrade pulled off Algernon’s fascination with Cecily and bewilderment at their engagement wonderfully, making up for Slocum’s performance.

All of these characters together played the ending scenes well.  Those scenes, of course, were the most important and shocking in the play, as one coincidence after another is revealed.  All of the actors worked together to create a seamless and believable set of circumstances.  The best moment of the scene was when Mandviwala burst into the room, asking about the christenings.  His abrupt entrance was exactly what the scene called for, and broke the mood in the best way possible, showing Chasuble’s obliviousness.  The actors never broke character, even if they were simply standing in a corner listening to the others deliver their lines.

The minor characters also did a nice job.  Lane (Michael Main) and Merriman (Wright Williams) were very convincing in their roles as manservant and butler.  Even though they had few scenes and lines, their characters added to the feel of the Victorian, aristocratic setting.  The maid (Faith Gingrich-Goetz), although she had no lines, still had the attitude of an overworked servant and added a further dimension of reality to the performance.  None of them seemed out of place or as if they had not put effort into their performances.

The set was simple, but still added to the ambiance of the play.  With just a few chairs and tables, the crew could invoke a sitting room or a garden, as the scene demanded.  The set changes were actually very interesting.  The servant characters were the set masters, changing out and arranging set pieces in between scenes.  This kept the audience within the story, sustaining the Victorian feel.  The lighting was minimal, just enough to see the actors well, btu there were slight differences in between scenes.  The lighting in the garden was brighter, more evocative of sunlight, than the lighting in Algernon’s study.

The costuming was wonderful.  All of the costumes matched the era and the characters perfectly.  Agro’s dresses were so large and billowy that it was impressive she could walk in them, but they added to her performance.  LaPrade was, indeed, overdressed, but this again complimented the acting.  Jack’s mourning clothes were as horrible as Cecily exclaimed they were, and opened up an avenue for Algernon’s disdain for them.    Gwendolen’s dresses were evocative of her mother’s, but were more suited for a young woman.  Cecily’s dress was extremely pretty, not simple as Lady Bracknell stated, but still not as overdone as the others.  The womens’ wigs, however, didn’t stand up to close inspection.  It was easy to see that they were wigs near the end of the play, but it was easy enough to ignore that.

Overall, The Importance of Being Earnest was a very nice interpretation of the classic play.  The actors worked together to create a believable environment, and their performances were very good.  A couple of the actors stumbled over lines a time or two, but their recoveries showed their skill.  After reading the play, it was very interesting to see how well the actors were able to invoke the spirit of Wilde’s sarcasm.  This was certainly a solid performance, especially considering the age and relative inexperience of the actors.  I would certainly recommend it to anyone interested in satire, Oscar Wilde, or the Victorian era, and if I were to grade it, I would give it an A; although there might have been some slight detractors from the performance, on the whole it was an extremely enjoyable experience.