We're beginning rehearsals on Friday for Oscar Willde's The Importance of Being Earnest, and we're preparing our own adaptation of Pyramus and Thisbe from Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream as well as two operettas by P. D. Q. Bach, Oedipus Tex and Hansel and Gretel and Ted and Alice. Here's a sneak peek at what's to come in the form of our program notes for Earnest:
The Importance of Being Earnest
Program Notes
The last of Oscar Wilde's four major theatrical works, The Importance of Being Earnest has both delighted and baffled audiences since it first opened in 1895. It is simultaneously one of the best-loved and least understood pieces of English drama, oddly enough because of its trivial nature. When asked what the play meant, Wilde responded by saying, “That we should treat all trivial things very seriously, and all the serious things of life with sincere and studied triviality.” That, indeed seems to sum up this play.
Cecily falls in love with “Earnest” before she ever meets him. Gwendolyn doesn't care who she marries as long as his name is Earnest. The village vicar doesn't have any problems with re-baptizing and re-christening two grown men (something that goes completely against religious practices)...And the list goes on. Even the major character flaws seem trivial. Algernon's greatest defect is his mild gluttony. Scenes that revolve around cucumber sandwiches and muffins carry as much weight for Wilde as scenes about the destiny of man and the warring of nations do for Shakespeare.
Perhaps Wilde makes commentary on the theatre itself: Any situation can reach the apex of importance given enough weight and sincerity in both its writing and delivery. One of Shaw's greatest complaints against the play in his infamous contemporary review was the overacting done by the show's lead actors. (A dangerous thing for me to write given that I'm writing this before rehearsals for our production have begun and knowing that I am performing in the piece.) For the play to reach its maximum effect dramatically and comically the characters must believe wholeheartedly in the importance of their trivial existence. One could read the play's title as Wilde's instructions to the actors: for the comedy to work, one must truly understand the importance of being earnest.
Let us take this argument a step further. Given that the object of the theatre is, to quote Shakespeare, “to hold...the mirror up to nature “, we can certainly say that Wilde sees all of life a trivial endeavor. One may initially see this as bleak. What's the point of life? Let us remember, however, that The Importance of Being Earnest is a comedy. The triviality of life is not cause for despair, but for laughter. Like Beckett, Pinter, and the absurdist playwrights who undoubtedly owe a debt of gratitude to this play, Wilde shows that the minor details and absurd situations of life make life interesting, bearable, and even comical. Lady Bracknell responds to the lovers' actions by decrying that they are “displaying signs of excessive triviality.” I think we can all agree with Jack that, on “the contrary! I've realized for the first time in my life the vital Importance of Being Earnest!”
-Charles Lane Cowen
Associate Director
Marley Bridges Theatre Company
