The Importance of Being Earnest

THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST caused PETE’S EYEBROWS to form a SUPREME ARCH

The Dramatic Premise

Algernon Moncrieff and Jack Worthing are friends leading a double life.

Whilst visiting the country, they live up to all the core values of the Victorian times in which they live. They understand class structure. They adhere to all social mores. They behave.

But it’s another story when they’re visiting the city. That’s when they become the worst of libertines.

To maintain their double lives, Algernon and Jack require dual identities…and alibis. Jack has invented “Earnest” whilst Algernon is a highly-skilled “Bunbury-ist”.

But what happens when true love intrudes upon their bohemian lifestyles? Can their alter-egos survive or must they be killed off?

From there it’s high farce of the highest order.  A trivial comedy for serious people, indeed. There’s mistaken identity, an overbearing aunt with a sharp tongue and men wrestling in mud; to say nothing of a mystery involving a baby left in a handbag on Victoria Station.

Photo Credit – Daniel Boud

A Fresh Take on an Old Story

The Importance of Being Earnest was first produced on 14 February 1895 at the height of Oscar-mania.

Indeed, in many ways, Earnest presaged Wilde’s fall.

Legend has it that the Marquess of Queensberry, father of Wilde’s lover, Lord Alfred Douglas, was intent upon delivering the playwright a bouquet of rotten vegetables and disrupting the show. Word of Queensberry’s less than cunning plan had, however, reached Wilde’s ears and he arranged for his accuser’s entry to be barred.

Queensberry’s infamous note followed, just days later, which set in train Wilde’s libel suit and the subsequent criminal proceedings against him.

By the end of May 1895 – just three months after Earnest opened – Wilde was imprisoned as a convicted criminal.

But I digress. Please forgive me.

Photo Credit – Daniel Boud

I imagine it must be quite a challenge to take a 128-year-old play and give it new life for a modern audience. Many in the stalls already knew the story. Some of the best lines have been adapted, re-purposed or down-right stolen so many times that they are in danger of becoming hackneyed.

I wish – rather earnestly – that I could go back in time and hear the audience reaction the first time Lady Bracknell, upon learning that Jack had lost both his parents, quipped: “To lose one parent, Mr Worthing, may be regarded as misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness“.

But director, Sarah Giles, together with the cast and crew, did a splendid job in injecting new life into an old play.

From the opening scene, where Algernon’s staff work in the kitchen to the beat of a baroque version of Dolly Parton’s “9 to 5“, all the way through to the bonus scene at the finale where two of the male staff end up in the same bedroom (wink, wink), this production felt fresh and new and exhilarating.

I loved every minute of trivial importance.

I applaud the ensemble cast but make special mention of Charles Wu in the role of Algernon, who I found mesmerising. Kudos to Sydney Theatre Company for their ongoing commitment to diverse casting.

Photo Credit – Daniel Boud

The Moment

The Importance of Being Earnest is too thick with plot twists and crackling wit to single out one moment which took my breath away. I was leaning forward in my seat and laughing throughout.

Something did happen however, during the last line of dialogue, which I have never witnessed before in a theatre.

As Jack uttered the immortal closing line about “the vital importance of being earnest / Earnest“, half the audience spoke the words, out loud, with him.

I think that would have given Oscar quite a thrill…and more than sufficient cause to, once again, proclaim his genius to anybody within earshot.

For more information of Sydney Theatre Company’s production of “The Importance of Being Earnest”:

The Importance of Being Earnest – Sydney Theatre Company