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The USC Department of Theatre and Dance will present the classic social satire The Importance of Being Earnest Nov. 7-16 at Longstreet Theatre.
Show times are 7:30 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday, with additional 3 p.m. performances on Sunday, November 9 and Sunday, November 16. Admission is $15 for students, $20 for USC faculty/staff, military, and seniors 60+, and $22 for the public. Tickets may be purchased online at sc.universitytickets.com. Longstreet Theatre is located at 1300 Greene St. Entry is through the rear breezeway off Sumter St.
Oscar Wilde’s “trivial comedy for serious people” invites audiences to step into the privileged world of Jack Worthing, a socialite bachelor leading two lives. He’s the respectable “Jack” at his country estate but pretends to be his imaginary brother, the freewheeling “Ernest,” in the city. When his good friend Algernon discovers the deception, he decides to get in on the action, arriving at Jack’s country estate as the fictional brother. This complicates not only Jack’s designs on Algernon’s cousin Gwendolen but also Algernon’s own desire for Jack’s young ward, Cecily. Filled with absurdist plot twists and Wilde’s acerbic wit, The Importance of Being Earnest is a masterpiece of farce that The Telegraph said “has a claim to being the most perfect high comedy in the English language.”
“You could simply read this play aloud and people would roll on the floor,” says director Dustin Whitehead, an associate professor in the theatre program. “It’s brilliantly written and so witty and quick. The lightness and humor are timeless.”
First performed in 1895, The Importance of Being Earnest skewers the hypocrisy and restrictions of Victorian society through sharp-tongued bon mots and farcical situations. While social standards have changed in the 130 years since, Whitehead recognizes that the criticisms are as relevant as ever.
“I think Wilde wrote this play to hold up a mirror to society and ask, ‘Aren’t we all ridiculous?’” Whitehead says. “He found great humor in convention and created a communal experience that has outlasted his own time.”
Ultimately, Whitehead says, the play’s humor and relatability stems from the complicated relationship between its two protagonists. “I think we laugh the most in life when we’re with our friends talking about relationships,” he explains. “Those we’re in, those our friends are in, and those we shouldn’t be in – perhaps because of what society says. It’s fun to get to see behind the curtain of Jack and Algernon, who act one way in private and totally differently in society.”
That duality will be reflected in the show’s design. “You’ll be stepping into Victorian England, but as seen through an absurd lens,” he says. “The costumes will be of the period, and the music will be mostly period, but the set will be more abstract. It’s a world that could turn upside down at any moment.”
The show’s elaborate design is being created by second-year graduate design students Victoria Rickards (scenic and lighting) and Madeline Gibson (costume), with instructor Patrick Kelly building the production’s soundscape. Cast in the production are graduate students De’on Turner (Jack), Dominic Delong-Rodgers (Algernon), Olan Domer, Didem Ruhi, Elaine Werren, and Elizabeth Wheless, and undergraduates Megan AuBuchon, Christian Blocker and Chloe Newport.
“One of my favorite quotes originated from Wilde – ‘Life is much too important to be taken seriously.’ That’s what I immediately think of when approaching this play,” Whitehead says.
“This play is fun, it’s fast-paced and it’s colorful. I don’t know a human being who could sit in the room with it and not laugh. It’s a fun, beautiful project.”
For more information about The Importance of Being Earnest or the theatre program at the University of South Carolina, contact Kevin Bush by phone at 803-777-9353 or via email at bushk@mailbox.sc.edu.