Next Production
The Importance of Being Earnest
By Oscar Wilde
Date: 22 - 26 May 2012
Producer:
Director: Anne O'Connell
Location: The Mill Theatre, Dundrum Shopping Centre, Dundrum
Presented by Rathfarnham Theatre Group
The Importance of Being Earnest, A Trivial Comedy for Serious People is a play by Oscar Wilde. First performed on 14 February 1895 at St. James's Theatre in London, it is a farcical comedy in which the protagonists maintain fictitious personae in order to escape burdensome social obligations. Working within the social conventions of late Victorian London, the play's major themes are the triviality with which it treats institutions as serious as marriage, and the resulting satire of Victorian ways. Contemporary reviews all praised the play's humour, though some were cautious about its explicit lack of social messages, while others foresaw the modern consensus that it was the culmination of Wilde's artistic career so far. Its high farce and witty dialogue have helped make The Importance of Being Earnest Wilde's most enduringly popular play.
The successful opening night marked the climax of Wilde's career but also heralded his downfall. The Marquess of Queensberry, father of Lord Alfred Douglas, an intimate friend of Wilde, planned to present Wilde a bouquet of rotten vegetables and disrupt the show. Wilde was tipped off and Queensberry was refused admission. Soon afterwards, however, their feud came to a climax in court, where Wilde's homosexual double life was revealed to the Victorian public and he was eventually sentenced to imprisonment. Wilde's notoriety caused the play, despite its success, to be closed after just 86 performances. After his release, he published the play from exile in Paris, but he wrote no further comic or dramatic work.
The Importance of Being Earnest has been revived many times since its premiere. It has been adapted for the cinema on three occasions. InThe Importance of Being Earnest (1952), Dame Edith Evans reprised her celebrated interpretation of Lady Bracknell; The Importance of Being Earnest (1992) by Kurt Baker used an all-black cast; and Oliver Parker's The Importance of Being Earnest (2002) incorporated some material cut during the preparation of the original stage production
Quotes
"Really, if the lower orders don't set us a good example, what on earth is the use of them?"
"When one is in town one amuses oneself. When one is in the country one amuses other people."
"Relations are simply a tedious pack of people, who haven't got the remotest knowledge of how to live, nor the smallest instinct about when to die."
Characters
John (Jack/Ernest) Worthing, J.P.
Algernon Moncrieff
Gwendolen Fairfax
Cecily Cardew
Lady Bracknell
Miss Prism
Rev. Canon Chasuble, D.D.
Lane
Merriman
Location: The Mill Theatre, Dundrum Shopping Centre