The Importance of Being Earnest Launches the Guthrie’s 2023-2024 Season with Wit and Style!

Oscar Wilde was perhaps the greatest wit of the 19th Century and The Importance of Being Earnest is one of his best known works is the perfect showcase of his genius. Unlike the comedies of Shakespeare, Wilde’s play makes no claim to a greater understanding of human nature. It pokes fun at pomposity and the upper classes detachment from reality to be sure, but in truth its greatest achievement is that it is hilariously entertaining. The Guthrie has gathered together a cast that knows just how to play Wilde’s witty dialogue and they bring a physicality to their roles that heightens the already deliciously ludicrous tone. As an avowed anglophile and connoisseur of British humor, Wilde’s work has always hit the sweet spot for me. I’ve enjoyed many productions over the years at the Guthrie but I’m not sure I’ve laughed as consistently at anything as much as I did at The Importance of Being Earnest. This is the rare play from the 1800’s that needs no modernization to make it accessible. No prep or footnotes directed to the audience, it just plays brilliantly.

The play which premiered in 1895 centers on two members of the idle upper class Jack Worthing and Algernon Moncrieff both of whom they discover make use of an alias in order to get out of obligations and do whatever they feel like. Jack has created a younger brother named Earnest which he uses to leave his home in the country where he lives with his ward, the 18 year old Cecily, and goes to London to live the carefree and pleasure centered life as said imaginary brother Earnest. Algernon has invented an invalid friend named Bunbury, who he uses to get out of dinners with his aunt Lady Bracknell under the excuse of being called to Bunbury’s sick bed. Jack has fallen in love with Lady Bracknell’s daughter Gwendolen and she with him, but Lady Bracknell will not allow the engagement due to Jack’s not knowing where he came from having been discovered in a handbag as an infant in Victoria station. Algernon, thinking Jack will be in London through the weekend and having discovered his country address and the existence of the young ward Cecily, arrives at Jack’s country home pretending to be his younger brother Earnest. Cecily and Algernon immediately fall in love, when Jack returns early to inform his household of the death of his brother Earnest he’s surprised to find that Earnest has been moved into the bedroom next to his. The final ingredient is when both men who have wooed under the name of Earnest learn that the women they love both declare they could only ever love a man named Earnest, which neither of them actually are. Hilarity ensues and one can only speculate that the play itself served as the template for every book P.G. Wodehouse ever wrote.

Corey Brill plays Jack, the straight man, at least comparatively to Michael Doherty’s Algernon, whose general look seems to be based in part on Oscar Wilde himself. Both play their roles superbly with Doherty really adding a physical playfulness to his characterization that finds added humor with every movement, particularly in the opening scenes. Helen Cespedes is Gwendolen and Adelin Phelps is Cecily who verbally spare over their erroneous assumption that they are both engaged to Earnest. They play the catiness of female rivals well, Cespedes scores a huge laugh involving lumps of sugar. Twin Cities treasure Sally Wingert is the formidable Lady Bracknell and commands the stage like a force of nature whenever she appears. She deliciously sells the leaps of logic and nonsensical rationale for all of her firmly held beliefs which change depending on her perceived goal. Lastly, I want to mention recent transplant to the Twin Cities and Actor to watch Daniel Petzold who plays Jack’s servant Merriman. Unfortunately Petzold isn’t given much to do by the script in The Importance of Being Earnest and in a way it feels like a waste of his talents. Still it’s good to see that local theater’s are keeping him employed, he’s a rising talent and we don’t want to lose him. Hopefully his next role will give him more to chew on.

The play is directed by David Ivers who has mounted a great looking play and guided his performers to fully realized characterizations. I love the physical touches that help to just add that little extra zing to the wonderfully comedic and rich dialogue. The one area that could have been improved on is there are a few instances where a character is facing the back of the stage and delivering dialogue for far to long. I had seats fairly close to the stage and in those moments the dialogue was lost to me. Speaking in that direction now and then is acceptable but to have a character face no one in the audience and deliver lines for one or two minutes at a stretch needed to be rethought. Luckily, it only happens a couple of times. Susan Tsu’s costumes are just gorgeous, Algernon’s wardrobe is foppish and comical, Jack’s is elegant and stylish, but the women, particularly the gowns worn by Lady Bracknell and Gwendolen are stunning. Mikiko Suzuki MacAdams set design is very classy, the play is in three acts with an intermission between each of the acts so that the set can be changed to a new location for each scene. It looks amazing, the final intermission though seemed to run longer than expected as they seemed to be having a little trouble with the scene change, hopefully that will work smoother as the run continues.

The is a great opportunity to see one of the great comedic plays brought to stage by a cast who knows how to make the laughs work to their fullest. I always tell folks when a classic like this comes around make sure you see it. Plays are meant to be seen performed and some of these don’t come around as often as they should. This is a great production to launch the new season and it runs through October 15th. For more information and to purchase tickets go to https://www.guthrietheater.org/shows-and-tickets/2023-2024-season/the-importance-of-being-earnest/ .

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