I had also accepted the clear COVID visor masks worn by cast members.Ī highlight of this production is the easy way performers deliver Wilde’s pithy dialogue and witty aphorisms, such as Lady Bracknell’s reaction to the pure and simple truth: “The truth is never pure and rarely simple.” All of the players are comfortable with the British dialect, as well as with the rhythm of the upbeat banter that both defines and lampoons social status, relationships, and the foibles of each character. I had also accepted the Sixties costumes, including women wearing pants and paisley shirts as well as the Swedish Modern furniture that provides the lounging opportunities in Algy’s fashionable London bachelor pad. Whatever the reason, Humrichouser’s production succeeds in bringing “The Importance of Being Earnest” to life on the Civic Stage in a smart, well-paced, and very funny production recorded with a fluid multi-camera shoot to be enjoyed online.īy the time Courtney Way as Jack, and Brooke Boyd as Algernon, conclude their entertaining Act I chat about the social and romantic advantages of maintaining dual identities - one for the country and one for the city - I had totally accepted the cross-gender casting of these roles. Perhaps that’s the reason why Civic Theatre director Tony Humrichouser chose to set this masterpiece of inverted Victorian values in the swinging Nineteen-Sixties, and cast Wilde’s two male leads, Jack and Algernon, with female performers. “We live in an age of surfaces” says Lady Bracknell, the didactic arbiter of taste in Oscar Wilde’s classic comedy. The Kalamazoo Civic Theatre’s production of “ The Importance Being Earnest” is now available online.

The trouble with being earnest