the importance of being earnest
In Oscar Wilde's classic comedy, two men lead double lives in order to escape from unwelcome social obligations, an activity they refer to as ‘Bunburying’.
Volumes of academic analyses have been penned about Wilde’s most definitive play, The Importance of Being Earnest. But, if you are looking for subtle existential philosophy and complex underhanded social commentary, you will need to visit a university library.
Candlelight Productions' version of Wilde's play makes no attempt whatsoever at a moral-of-the-story lecture, but educates with hilariously witty dialogue and a quirky plot, inclusive of ‘The Complete Bunbury Experience’.
Patrons take on a Victorian identity in this interactive 'Experience' and are treated as guests of the Worthing and Moncrief families. As you walk into the theatre in Hawthorn, you are transported into the late 19th-century, and for a moment, escape from the daily grind of life.
A program booklet with my name in cursive handwriting was the ticket to the first scene of the play - Algernon’s flat in Half-Moon Street. Candlelight Productions’ butler walked me politely to the entrance and announced my arrival with loud pomposity. I felt compelled to do a curtsy and then waltz into the ‘flat’ in the midst of live piano music and operatic vocals.
For the next half hour, I played a game of croquet under an instructor’s guidance, received etiquette and elocution lessons, ate cucumber sandwiches served by my very own maid, and introduced myself to someone I did not know, all with the class and manners of the Victorian era.
Held in a grand sitting room at the Memorial Hall of Christchurch in Hawthorn, a heritage building overlooking the Yarra River, the venue was the perfect hideaway from the bustle of the city beyond, yet cunningly located just under the noses of people you want to avoid.
It was pleasantly ironic that Candlelight Productions found itself producing a show centred on the avoidance of social responsibility, especially when they have upped the ante in their responsibility for the environment.
Recycled paper, green printing technology, sweatshop-free clothing, Fair Trade coffee, and free-range eggs were used in the production of the play, which was also carbon neutral.
Directed by Matt Hammond and remaining faithful to Wilde’s text, misunderstandings, faked deaths and shocking revelations abound in this two-hour romp.
With some of the best one-liners ever heard on stage, it is a mark of Wilde’s genius that it remains as humorous now, as it was 100 years after it was written.
John Worthing is Ernest in town, but Jack in the country. His friend, Algernon Moncrief, refuses to let him marry his first cousin Gwendolen until he clears up the whole matter of ‘little Cecily’.
But Gwendolen doesn't want to marry a Jack, she wants to marry an Ernest. And thus Jack and Algernon discover the 'name' is of utmost importance!
Speaking in Old Englandish accents and pulling it off well, the cast threw themselves into their parts with relish.
The performances were light and effervescent; actors seemed to be harbouring a repressed excitement which gives the entire play an energetic direction and a secret glee.
A high point was when the audience was knocked over with laughter as Jasen Swafford and Ben Ridgwell, in characters as Jack and Algernon, burst out unexpectedly with a Justin Timberlake-inspired exchange in the third act.
Jack asked, "Shall we sing them a song?”
Instead of “whistling some dreadful popular air from a British Opera” according to the original text, Algernon replied, “How about Cry Me A River?”
Jack said, “Good heavens, Algy, we’re trying to bring the girls back, not bring Sexyback!"
The completely clueless audience cheered for the innuendo of the song titles. The actors then swung back into action without a backward look.
This play will give you pause to think about your own social masks, and Wilde would be pleased. And it is probably a good thing to think about, because double lives can get you into lots of trouble.
You do not have to try to find any veiled political insurgency in The Importance of Being Earnest. Instead, you spend much of the play laughing. Consider yourself warned: the characters have an ability to be both sharp and blunt simultaneously.
As you leave the theatre and declare (with your new-found elocution skills), “I say, ol’ chap, jolly good show, and a ruddy good evening at that!”, the Bunbury Experience will have been completed.
