The Newtowne Players Present The Importance of Being Earnest - The Baynet, 3/25/2010
Two young gentlemen living in Victorian England have taken to bending the truth in order to put some excitement into their lives. Jack Worthing has invented a brother, Earnest, whom he uses as an excuse to leave his dull country life behind for big city escapades in London.
Algernon Moncrieff has taken the same name, “Earnest,” when visiting Worthing’s ward at the country manor. Things start to go awry when they both end up in the country and their deceptions are unraveled — threatening to spoil their romantic pursuits.
NTP delivers a lesson on the importance of being earnest - Weekend Section, 4/9/2010
By DICKSON MERCER
Staff writer
As antiquated as Oscar Wilde's "The Importance of Being Earnest" is in 2010, it was decidedly current, and subversive, when it debuted in 1895. Long story short: Because of it, Wilde found himself in quite a scrape, and the satirist and aesthete never wrote a play again.
These days that's hard to imagine (though I can imagine "Earnest" inspiring a dissertation or two). Even so, as the Newtowne Players's production proves, the play offers plenty to laugh at (or chuckle at) and its sheer wittiness is transcendent. What's more, if you would like to feel better about your own moral fiber, try spending a couple hours with Victorian era aristocrats and others who'd like to join the club. (Admirers of the French Revolution? I think not, dear lad.)
The most genuine characters in "Earnest" are servants, and both are humorously portrayed by Patrick Welton and Bill Scarafia.
John Worthing (Richard Milla) and Algernon Moncrieff (Aaron Meisinger) are best friends but exceedingly different. John is a nervous wimp while Algernon is amazingly overconfident. (Algernon also seems to represent Wilde's worldview, particularly after his admission, which ends Act 1, that all talk is pure nonsense.)
