Theater Review—

A Director’s Creative Perfectionism Shines At The Little Theatre

By Julie Stern

John (“JP”) Worthing and Algernon Moncrieff are two friends from university, who have discovered the advantages of lying and cultivated it into an art form.

Charged with supervising the upbringing of his sweet and gentle ward, the fetching Cecily Cardew, young Jack Worthing Maintains a posture of strict and sober propriety in the country town of Woolton where they live. in order to escape the confines of this existence, however, he has invented an imaginary younger brother, Earnest, who lives in the city. Earnest is a scapegrace,  constantly in trouble, requiring Jack to go down to town periodically, to straighten the rascal out. When he is in the city,  Jack adopts both the name and the disposition of Earnest.

Meanwhile, chafing under the attentions of his aunt, the insufferable Lady Bracknell (mother of the fair and Honorable Gwendolen Fairfax), Algernon Moncrieff has invented the practice of “Bunburying” — named for an imaginary friend, Bunbury, an invalid whose recurrent crises of health require Algernon to drop everything (including dinner with his aunt).

Things change when Jack falls in love with Algernon’s cousin Gwendolen. The problem is that she believes him to be Earnest, and in fact, announces that it is the name that makes her love him. Could she love him if his name were Jack? Absolutely not!

In the meantime, to get away from Lady Bracknell, Algernon goes down to Woolton where he introduces himself to Cecily as Jack’s brother, Earnest. Cecily, who has been hoping to meet the mysterious black sheep (for she finds he guardian rather boring) is delighted. The two fall madly in love.

All sorts of entanglements of plot occur, when everyone comes down to Woolton at once, and this farcical plot, along with dozens of wonderfully clever lines from Oscar Wilde — the master of the epigram —  are the stuff of Wilde’s most successful and enduring comedy, The Importance of Being Earnest.

This play has been a favorite for over a hundred years, produced by repertory companies, school groups and community theaters on a regular basis. If you’ve seen it once, it’s perfectly enjoyable to see it again, in part to revel in the sarcastic quips, and also to observe how well a particular group is performing it.

At the Newtown Players’ Little Theater,  veteran director Ruth Anne Baumgartner is showing her usual creative perfectionism, winning quality performances from her entire cast. Damian Long is drolly delightful as Jack, while Matthieu Regney is  shameless as the impoverished playboy Algernon.

Laurel Jameson and Margaret Frattaroli are delightful as the young women they love. Ann Hutchinson does a fine job with the iron-jawed Lady Bracknell. Marguerite Foster and Rob Pawlikowski add spice to the plot as Cecily’s scatterbrained governess,  Miss Prism, and her devoted swain, the pompous clergyman Canon Chasuble.

The production sparkles with wit, and a cheerful tweaking of the class system. It is hard to believe that four days after it first opened, Wilde’s life fell apart when he was publicly accused of immorality (a euphemism for homosexuality). He sued for libel, lost in court, and was sentenced to two years of hard labor in prison. He emerged a broken man, dying three years later at the age of 46.

His greatest play would not be performed again for another seven years, and even then, it would be two years more before his name was listed as the playwright.

(Performances continue through July 25. See the Enjoy Calendar or call 203-270-9144 for full curtain and ticket details.)