Oscar Wilde’s send-up of the upper class of Victorian Era Britain, The Importance of Being Earnest, was his biggest hit, and rightfully so. Its humor holds up even today; especially in capitalist societies, the difference between social classes remains thoroughly recognizable. Wilde certainly knew how to skewer the rich of his day and age and doing so remains very much relatable so many years later.
Relatability aside, mounting Wilde’s play is no mean feat; his dialogue, loaded with clever puns and crashing repartees that follow one another like waves hitting a beach, really needs to be seamlessly uttered to have it all work. The cast of the current Village Playhouse production does a reasonably good job of it—though there were some stumbles witnessed as Wilde’s tongue-twisting verbiage flowed along with barely a moment of silence.
What concerned me the most was the decision to have the cast attempt to speak in faux upper-class British accents, as these proved to be very unevenly accomplished—ranging from the very British of Clayton Mortl’s Algernon (“Algie”) Moncrieff to the barely-there British of Derek Jacobs’ Jack Worthing. Yes, this can show a social gap between characters, of course, but the accents just didn’t fully convince. Perhaps American English would have worked better; it would certainly have been less distracting.
That said, I must give kudos to this small cast of dedicated players. I came to like Algie through Mortl’s charming portrayal and to sympathize with the hope-to-be-wed couple of Jack and Gwendolen (Audrey Thompson-Wallace). Scott Sorensen, as both a butler and a manservant (roles that work well combined into one actor’s performance), convincingly gives you a fly-on-the-wall view into this world of the rich. Another stand-out is Maggie Wirth as Lady Bracknell, mother of Gwendolen and not at all amused with the latter’s romantic interest in Jack. She looks, dresses, acts and speaks her part quite well, and her going ballistic over finding out that the man who aspires to wed her beloved daughter was orphaned and found “in a handbag” is something to behold; all the puffery and affect of “polite society” vaporizes in a moment, and true human sentiment pours forth like lava from a volcano.
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Through Feb. 25 at Inspiration Studios, 1500 S. 73rd St. For tickets, call 414-207-4879 or visit villageplayhouse.org/the-importance-of-being-earnest.
