Photo courtesy of Skylight Music Theatre
Dipping a toe back into normalcy, the performing arts are still brought to those who can only see them from home. Skylight Music Theatre's new production, Being Earnest, doesn’t exist on any stage, it is a video accessible online. Staying true to Skylight’s tradition, it is a full-length musical play depicting the events of Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest in a “groovy, 1960s” context.
By offering this experience online, the play may be more accessible for some families who don’t make a habit of going out to the theater, instead choosing to watch videos on their own schedule from the comfort of their own home. If one wants to pause for any reason, the actors will wait for them. As such, the experience is necessarily different. What the show loses without the physical presence of the actors, it compensates with an honest effort to put the video together.
Indeed, it doesn’t fall into the trap of being just filmed theater. Each actor is alone at home, trapped in a square surrounded by more brightly colored shapes a la Andy Warhol. Montage seeks to reunite actors separated by COVID, including socially distanced kisses when the romantic plot advances. The whole performance breathes to the rhythm of its energetic montage.
Almost inadvertently, the novelty keeps you hooked. It’s not perfect, and you can see the ropes—the video quality of each actor’s feed varies, some squares are misaligned—but it doesn't ever ruin the viewing experience. The actors, despite not being in the presence of their co-stars, act as if they were interacting with each other. Squares move and actors adapt to maintain the illusion of eye contact and talking at each other. And when addressing the audience, the actors look straight at the camera, breaking a convention of cinema in a way that markedly improves the impact of the scenes.
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Rather than adopting the point of view of an audience member seeing a play, Being Earnest borrows from the toolbox of cinema. The relative sizes and positions of each actor’s square keep moving to accentuate the meaning of what is occurring. The montage keeps attempting new things, which is a virtue in this case. Not every idea lands, but enough do to keep viewers wondering what might come next. Musical segments, in particular, are a playground for daring montage decisions. The screen accommodates sometimes up to seven people simultaneously while constantly adapting to direct the attention of the viewer where it should be.
The story itself is naturally well written. It is the tale of a man who leads a double life under the fake name of Earnest. Inevitably, his two lives collide, and the meaning of his made-up name—being earnest, honest—comes into sharp focus. As is the case in most comedies of manners, misunderstandings make up most of the plot. If the characters simply communicated, the story would be over in an instant, but we would be missing out on witty dialogue and the little gems that are the songs of Paul Gordon and Jay Gruska.
Algernon (Max Pink), Jack (Joey Chelius), Gwendolyn (Stephanie Staszak) and Cecily (Ashley Oviedo) are all competently portrayed by actors who also demonstrate excellent singing skills, and Michael Unger’s direction is appreciable. The many touches of humor make the experience very entertaining. Hilarious highlights include the cast dancing without inhibitions in a multicolored musical clip fashioned after a Zoom call, as well as the acidic wit of Lady Bracknell (played by Nathan Marinan), possibly the best character in the show.
Technical restrictions, which made it impossible to have access to a professional team and equipment in the room with the actors, make the mistakes excusable. Overall, the production is just fun and endearing.
Being Earnest will be available for streaming through November 12, 2020. To stream Being Earnest from home, patrons pick a date and have 48 hours to watch (beginning at 12:01 a.m. on the selected date and continuing until 11:59 p.m. on the following day.) Tickets are $25. For households, please consider a donation of $10 per additional viewer to help support the theatre. Tickets can be purchased online at www.skylightmusictheatre.org or by phone through the Box Office (414) 291-7800, open Mon.-Fri. Noon to 5 p.m.
For more information and tickets, visit skylightmusictheatre.org.
