On Thursday, Feb. 12, the Elizabethtown College Theatre and Dance Division of the Fine and Performing Arts Department presented “The Importance of Being Earnest,” the British romantic comedy written by Oscar Wilde. Opening weekend began with strong performances from all involved, showing promise for the following nights.
The first act begins with the two male lead characters, Algernon and John Worthing, discussing the trivial but also beneficial, aspects of being known by one name in the city and by another in the country. Algernon is played by sophomore Kevin Hughes, and Worthing is played by sophomore Nick Loschiavo. While watching the play, it is important to note that Worthing is known as Jack in the country, but Ernest in the city, and Algernon is referred to as Algernon in the city, but poses as “Cousin Ernest” when he visits Worthing in the country. The two young bachelors use their invented personas as a way to visit the country or city whenever they like to have fun or avoid the unwanted company of close family.
As the first act flows into the second and third acts, it becomes evident that the invented identities have gotten these young men into a large and laughable situation. The play’s characters fall into an unfortunate situation when the romantic interests of the boys, two young love-struck girls with an undeniable love for the name Ernest, are introduced to the play. The young ward Cecily Cardew, played by sophomore Kerry Anne Serody, and Gwendolyn Fairfax, played by senior Wendy Moulton, helped create a comedic, rectangle of love, confusion and misunderstanding alongside the two boys. Mix in some sassy butlers, a cranky, old aunt, an awkward priest and a smart, flirtatious governess, and you have the making of the fun, romantic comedy that is “The Importance of Being Earnest.”
An enormous amount of time, energy and effort went into the production of this show. Associate Professor of Theatre Michael Swanson, director of Theatre and Dance, directed this production of “The Importance of Being Earnest.” “The show was chosen last spring. This show, I did not start preparing for until mid-October. The auditions started the first week of October, and rehearsals started Nov. 17,” Swanson said. “Since then, we have been rehearsing Sunday through Thursday evening, 7 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. at night, about 15 and a half hours of rehearsal time a week for approximately eight weeks.” In these eight weeks, cast and crew, set and costume designers, technical staff and stage managers and the director were all involved in rehearsal. “We’re talking in the neighborhood of a couple hundred hours for me. That does not include stuff like line memorization, or other work the students are doing on their own or shop hours. So thousands of person hours are being expended on our productions,” Swanson said on all the efforts put into this production.
Considering the amount of time and effort put into making the show happen, it is important to look at those involved in portraying such iconic characters from Oscar Wilde’s imagination. Sophomore Kierra Swisher plays Miss Prism, governess to the young ward Cecily Cardew. “So much time went into this. Some nights we’ll just have straight dialect work where we’ll sit down and work for hours on our British dialects. Other nights we’ll spend hours going over one or a few scenes,” Swisher said. As a play set in Britain, having the correct British dialect was important. “For me it was different than maybe some of the others because I have been doing a British accent since I was little and have been in quite a few ‘British accent shows.’ I would just walk around speaking in British for absolutely no reason.”
Despite a small turnout this past Thursday, the audience found the humor in each of the different characters. “In my theatre history, I have played a lot of moms and a lot of old ladies, and [Miss Prism] is different because she is a more fun character. She’s very flirty but also a reserved know-it-all. She’s very fun!” Swisher commented about her character. Swisher also said about the opening show, “I honestly think it was one of our best performances so far. Everyone felt really good. I mean it was a pretty small audience, but they were responsive to everything, so a pretty good night.”
Those involved with the show are looking forward to the next several performances. The next times available to see “The Importance of Being Earnest” will be this weekend, Feb. 19 and 20 at 8 p.m., and Feb. 22, at 2 p.m.
