Theater "Review" - The Importance of Being Earnest

The Importance of Being Earnest

Written by Oscar Wilde

Directed by Steve Tague

Where:  Thompson Theater at the Roselle Center for the Arts

(University of Delaware, Newark, DE)

Once again, here's some thoughts on theater for a very limited audience of my already very limited audience on this blog.

My fellow theatergoer pointed out what could possibly be our biggest issue with the Resident Ensemble Players program at the University of Delaware this year -- Where have all the actors and actresses that we have come to know and love watching over the past two years gone to?  They've been replaced by grad students?  Pshaw!  (I say that with sarcasm because the students in UD's Professional Theater Training Program certainly did fine work in this production).  The problem lies in the fact that we've grown to truly enjoy the works of the REP company as a whole.  We truly love seeing actors fully immerse themselves in completely different roles for each play.  And now (rightly so considering this is a university setting), the REP actors are sharing the stage with these newbies of the PTTP (once again, please note the sarcasm)?!  And the real question is where the heck has the brilliant Kathleen Pirkl Tague gone to?  

One couldn't help but think Tague woud have fit in tremendously well in this production of Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest, a witty play that admittedly has probably lost a little of its luster since it was first presented in 1895.  The definition of farce is comedy that is derived from extravagant situations, mistaken identity, verbal humor, and a fast-paced plot, and Earnest pretty much fits the bill on all those levels.  The only issue is that I know there was more humor to be derived from the dialog that I simply wasn't getting because of Wilde's use of words that aren't common in today's society.  To a much lesser extent, Earnest is like reading or watching a Shakespearean play -- you're not going to understand everything while you watch it.  Some of the humor just isn't going to work.  An example -- there was some talk about Germans here that I'm sure was supposed to be humorous, but it just flew right over my head.  I'm sure with any type of research into the time period I'd understand fully what was so funny about it, but sitting in the theater, I just didn't get it.  [I'm not going to delve into a summary of any sort -- wikipedia the plot if you're interested.]

Nevertheless, this is certainly a well-presented production.  The sets are of a quality I'm used to seeing from the REP and the costuming department certainly had a fun time developing some of the pieces.  That said, however, the whole evening lacked a little bit of energy (which, once again, could be the fault of the material, or may not be) and it felt like at moments the cast was stepping on the laughs of the audience, moving ahead before the audience was finished chuckling.

Moving on to brighter things, stand-out actors are Carine Montbertrand as the rather eccentric Miss Prism and Mic Matarrese as the somewhat absent-minded Reverend Chasuble.  The two, whose characters harbor loving desire for one another, work incredibly well together (which was evident in Matarrese's small, but incredibly funny role in last year's The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui which starred Ms. Montbertrand).  It's a shame that they're only on stage for such a limited time.  Elizabeth Heflin's arrogant though prim and proper Lady Bracknell certainly grabs your attention every time she takes the stage. 

Overall, this Earnest is a fine production whose faults, I think, lie more in the play itself than in how the play was presented.