Review: 'THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST' at Lamb's Players Theatre

Oscar Wilde once said about his play “The Importance of Being Earnest”  that it is “exquisitely trivial, a delicate bubble of fancy…” This lighthearted production delivers on that promise with a clever and comedic cast that joyfully delights in poking fun at the rules and protocols of Victorian society. “The Importance of Being Earnest” plays at Lamb’s Players Theatre through November 10th.

This classic farce by Oscar Wilde is filled with countless witty lines and is a send-up of social niceties and the fun and complications that arise when one is not always earnest.  The play opens with two friends, Jack (Brian Mackey) and Algernon (Michael Louis Cusimano), in London, who discover that they each have been using the same avoidance technique - a fictional person who they always have to see or take care of instead of fulfilling their social responsibilities.

Algernon has named his fictional friend Bunbury, who always seems to be ill when family obligations come up. Meanwhile, Jack has invented an irresponsible younger brother named Earnest so he can leave his ward Cecily (Lauren King Thompson) with her chaperone Miss Prim (Deborah Gilmour Smyth) at his country estate whenever he wants to go to London.  

London holds one responsibility that Jack is happy to add to his life: proposing marriage to Gwendolen (Rachel Van Wormer). Gwendolen’s formidable mother, Lady Bracknell (David McBean), is against this. Jack’s lack of parentage is a major concern;  as Lady Bracknell points out, "To lose one parent, Mr Worthing, may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness.”

While Jack deals with that, Algernon takes the chance to have some fun in the country without Jack knowing. From there, the play is a roller coaster of mistaken identities, improbable twists, solving a long-standing mystery, and one “insuperable barrier” that has to be overcome to win anyone’s heart and hand in matrimony.

The ensemble is rounded out by Geno Carr, Brian Salmon, and John Rosen.

Mackey’s Jack is a lovable hypocrite—one who gladly represents Victorian conventions and respectability and then flouts them to escape those same boundaries. This allows for fun twists as the character tries to resolve tricky situations he created through his own hypocritical actions using society-approved methods. 

Cusimano is having a year of being a cad, first as a more malevolent one in “Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812” at Cygnet, and now with this more mischievous and witty Algernon. His Alergnon is charming and only seems to care about having a good time, eating (all) the excellent food, and delighting in every new revelation of gossip with as much enjoyment as the audience.

Van Wormer’s Gwendolen is a woman who has no shortage of opinions and delivers them at a comedic, rapid-fire pace that could have come straight out of a 1940s movie.  Thompson’s Cecily is full of imagination and easy infatuation.  Both are lovely and sweet, but these kittens have claws, as evidenced by their meeting.

McBean brings a wonderful tartness to cut through all the sweet frivolity as Lady Bracknell, full of heightened drama, societal pomposity, and looking down upon everyone who vexes her (aka everyone).

Smyth is fun as the absentminded Miss Prism, who has a sweet connection to Salmon’s county Reverend Chasuble. Carr is very funny as a servant caught between the two feuding misses, while Rosen is Algernon’s stoic manservant with a dry sense of humor.

Directed by Kerry Meads, this show is as bubbly as champagne. It plays out on a splendid set by Sean Fanning and lovely costumes by Jeanne Reith.
 

“The Importance of Being Earnest” is a play of mistaken identity, love affairs, social niceties, truthfulness, and just how vital it is to know where you left your handbag. 

How To Get Tickets

“The Importance of Being Earnest” plays at  Lamb’s Players Theatre through November 10th.  For ticket and showtime information, go to www.lambsplayers.org 

Photo Credit: Lamb’s Players Theatre

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