The Importance of Being Earnest

The Importance of Being Earnest

By Oscar Wilde

Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest is comedy with manners, mischief and absolutely no interest in behaving itself. Beneath the polished drawing rooms, elaborate lies and increasingly ridiculous misunderstandings is a wickedly clever send-up of Victorian society and of the ways people have always used appearances to get what they want.

Jack Worthing and Algernon Moncrieff have each invented alter egos to escape the obligations of respectable society, particularly when romance gets in the way. Add two determined young women, one formidable aunt, a suspiciously important handbag and some of the most deliciously quotable dialogue in the English language, and the result is a comedy that has barely aged a day.

Wilde understood that the best way to expose absurdity is often to make it very, very funny. The Importance of Being Earnest is elegant, ridiculous and gloriously smart, offering an evening of laughter while sending up social conventions that may look Victorian but remain surprisingly recognizable.

Come for the wit. Stay for the romance, the ridiculousness and the sheer pleasure of watching a master comedian make fools of everyone, including us.

March 18, 19, 20 @ 7:30pm

March 20, 21 @ 2:00pm, 2027