Playwright: Oscar Wilde
At: The Athenaeum Theatre,
2936 N. Southport Ave.
Tickets: 773-935-6860 or at
DeadWriters.net; $40.
Runs through: July 31
When the box-office staff introduces the play as "three hours long, with two intermissions," a theatregoer might start to get anxious.
But relax! It's Oscar Wilde, he of infamous rapid-fire witticism, and Importance of Being Earnest is regarded as his finest play. Dead Writers Theatre Collective's ( DWTC's ) production of "Earnest" is crisp yet genteel, gaudy but not mannered, and a treat to watch.
"Earnest" is not just a character trait, but a plot device in Wilde's play about two friends, Algernon Moncrieff and John Worthing, who desire female companionship. ( Or do they? It's Wilde: Gay subtext abounds. "Earnest" was apparently code for homosexual in Wilde's day, and Moncrieff's nebulous habit of Bunburying is a double entendre for gay sex. ) Their potential lady partners are bewitched by the name "Ernest," the name of neither Moncrieff or Worthing, and that is the least of the obstacles the two face in their quest for conquest.
DWTC's theme this season is "Mad About the Boy", and good sense blessedly does not abound in this script: everyone is hilariously self-interested, deluded and deceptive. Each of "Earnest's" three acts is rich with happenings and have its own unique arc; none of them feels too long. This is partly due to famous Wilde lines like, "to lose one parent seems like misfortune; two, carelessness" and partly due to the incredible verve the cast delivers them with.
Small moments of physicality help bring Wilde's already sharp words alive. There's a certain slapstick quality all of actors embody that is most obvious in the second act, where muffins are devoured recklessly and a teacake is stabbed to great effect. Jack Dryden plays Moncrieff with an excited mince, and Mary Ann Bowman summons the most booming, imperious voice imaginable for Lady Bracknell, the supreme arbiter of romantic decisions and social tastes. Even Lane the butler's dry pessimism is punctuated by Chris Bruzzini's delightfully sour faces.
DWTC wanted to give their sets the feel of Victorian pop-up Valentines and toy theatre, beginning each act with actors posed amid the set and the sound of a winding music box. The sets add a regal touch and work well on the Atheneaum's tiny stage, but what really shines is the costuming, particularly Moncrieff and Worthing's sumptuous suits.
Overall, DWTC's "Earnest," its season opener, is a loving re-creation of Wilde's world done with zeal. The play itself, with its deliciously awkward encounters, ridiculously ill-conceived explanations and deliberately overblown pronouncements, should never fail to amuse its viewers, and it's clearly a well-cast production. The season is off to a fabulous start.
