This week, I went to see a production of Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest, in the middle of its run locally at the Arvada Center. It was a particularly fun night at the theater for me, as this is a play I myself performed "back in the day." What's more, one of my friends who appeared in that college production with me was now appearing in this professional production... in the very same role I had.
It was a bit of a trip through the looking glass, and through history. I found that even though it had been 15 years, I still remembered a considerable amount of the dialogue. But the play still had the power to make me laugh. Indeed, I took away from the evening an even more profound respect for the writing of Oscar Wilde.
"Earnest" is an exceptionally funny play. There were jokes in it that we hit squarely in our production. Last night, I got to discover other jokes that we'd missed, but this production nailed. And in thinking more about this, I realized the potential for still other big laughs that neither of us had hit upon. All this in a 100 year-old comedy, when comedy is so routinely "of its time" that it doesn't last. Yes, a truly brilliant play, this.
As for this production, it's a strong, enjoyable staging. On the evening I saw it, the crowd was a bit sedate throughout the first act, but everything seemed to start firing in Act Two. The crowd woke up, the cast picked up the comic timing, and each began to feed off the other as happens in good theater.
Seeing the play brought back to mind many fond memories, but I do think it's a show anyone could enjoy, even if they know nothing of the play. It's just a fun, spirited farce. And if you live in the Denver area, you still have a few weeks to catch this fun production.
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