In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet the kindly old Polonius sends his son, Laertes, into the world with some wise, fatherly advice. “Neither a borrower nor a lender be.” “Give every man thine ear, but few thy voice.” And, my personal favorite, “to thine own self be true.” However, I would have given my son one more piece of advice. I would have told him that, above all, it is important to be earnest. And no such lesson could have been better taught than Oscar Wilde’s play The Importance of Being Earnest showing for one weekend only at Artistic Synergy of Baltimore (Rosedale, MD).
Wilde’s satirical comedy pokes devilish fun at the social and societal norms of his time and, through a story woven with just a few characters, parodies Victorian ways and, in so doing, hilarity ensues.
Right off the bat, I noticed something unusual. The two lead characters (written as males) were cast with females. A brief conversation with the show’s Director, Will Meister Murray, during intermission, confirmed my suspicions. While he educated me that one of the play’s characters, Lady Bracknell, is often cast with a male, he thought it would add to the comedy by having gals play the two main guys. And how right he was. The result is comedy gold and plenty of belly laughs.
Algy Moncrieff (Samantha Murray) and J. Worthing/John (Keira Kheel) are hysterical as the two main guys who have their own personal spin on life. We quickly learn that Kheel’s character has an “alter-ego” named Ernest when he’s in the city having fun, and just plain John when he’s at his home in the country. He is in love with Algy’s cousin Gwendolyn Fairfax (Randi Seepersad) who flaunts and floats around the stage as a giddy gal in love even in the shadow of her disapproving, overbearing mother. But there is more to her than meets the eye as we see in Act II when Seepersad pulls out all the stops to cut on the gal who she thinks is engaged to her fiancée.
Said overbearing mother, Lady Bracknell (Chip Meister) is full of old school societal fluff and muster, and Meister hysterically tosses his wit to and fro as “she” questions her daughter’s suitor about his “qualifications” to be an eligible fiancée. The good Lady embodies all of the stuffiness of what Wilde saw as the uptight society’s upper class, and in quite a funny fashion.
John’s ward Cecily (Eric Boelsche), also benefited in quite a good way with Murray casting this woman’s role with a male. Boelsche’s Cecily is naïve, witty and utterly endearing. Watch out for his facial expressions and line delivery. This guy knows how to steal the show and steal it he did. Many times. Algy comes to the county home of his friend as a surprise, to meet this lovely ward whom he has heard so much about, and winds up falling in love and proposing. So Algy is in love with Cecily, and John is in love with Gwendolyn. And both pretend to be named “Ernest”, as both girls’ most single important wish is to marry someone with that name. But can two people be named Ernest? Are you confused yet? Not to worry, all will become clear in the end.
They say there are no small roles, which is true. The aforementioned cast is supplemented by three talented actors playing supporting roles. Miss Prism (Karisa Nashana Sikora) is a bookishly smart and educated lady, governess to the young Cecily. Lane/Merriman (Mark Wallace) plays the butler/houseman in both Algy’s & John’s homes and has some laugh-out-loud moments when he comes on stage briefly (very briefly) doing bits of comedic genius that you have to just see to understand. The Reverend Canon/Dr. Chasuble is played by Chris Hemsworth (er, Sean Hogan) and is the celibate minister who seeks to hold the order together, religiously speaking, and tasked with christening the two “Ernests”. Hogan has great stage presence and an impressive accent to boot and, even though he & Sikora are only on stage a few brief times, they both know how to make an impression.
Will the guys succeed in earning the love and trust of their respective beloved? Will their ruse finally be revealed? Will calamity ensue or good sense prevail? Only one way to find out. Come and check out this most delightful of Wilde’s plays and you’ll see for yourself how truly important it is to be Ernest…er, earnest.
Running Time: Approximately 2 hours with one intermission
The Importance of Being Earnest plays through Sunday October 22nd 2023 with Artistic Synergy of Baltimore at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church— 8212 Philadelphia Road in Rosedale, MD. Tickets are available at the door or in advance online.
