On Stage: Performing Arts at Our Oneonta Campuses
by Rachel Frick Cardelle

‘Importance of Being Earnest’ Questions Conventions with Humor

When I heard that the next play to be presented at Hartwick College is “The Importance of Being Earnest: A Trivial Comedy for Serious People,” by Oscar Wilde and first performed in 1895 in London, England, I could not wipe the smile off my face. I got to know this play when I was in grade school in the mid-70s. My friends and I were playing hide-and-seek on the local college campus and I hid in the theater, where it turned out students were practicing for their production of “Earnest.” I quickly became engrossed and stayed* for several hours to watch what I thought was the funniest thing I had ever seen. In the 50 years since, I have not changed my opinion much on that.

I have sat in on several of the Hartwick College rehearsals and spoke at length to Marc Shaw, the faculty director, and Amber Edens, who plays “Jack” in this production. Both the rehearsals and the interviews reflected the fun and humor I remembered from my first introduction to Oscar Wilde’s writings. What surprises me now is how—even given that it is a commentary on society in 1895, when this was first produced in London—much of the commentary is still quite relevant.

In my conversation with Marc, the word “paradox” kept coming up, as this play is riddled with them. The Oxford Dictionary defines paradox as “…a seemingly absurd or self-contradictory statement or proposition that when investigated or explained may prove to be well founded or true.” And even the subtitle, “A Trivial Comedy for Serious People,” holds that paradox. For it is a trivial comedy, and yet it speaks to some very serious questions about who we truly are and who we present to the world around us.

A minimum of spoilers for those who have never seen this show, but the premise is that one of the leads, Jack, has to be a serious (okay, earnest!) fellow at his country home, but pretends he has a wicked brother, Ernest, who lives in London and must be continually rescued. This gives Jack the excuse to go to the city where he becomes Ernest and can live as he likes. A friend of his discovers this charade and tells him he is a “Bunburyist,” someone who has a secret life so he can meet his societal expectations while also living as he wants.

Marc pointed out to me how throughout the play, in the funniest moments, Wilde questions some of the most serious conventions in society, from marriage to the roles of men and women. For example, the two female love interests in the play—Gwendolen and Cecily—each fall deeply in love for the most absurd reasons and then fawn on their men for being big and oh “so much stronger than women” for doing almost nothing.

The characters in this play are wonderful, and if you liked the funny moments with the Dowager Countess Grantham (played by Maggie Smith) in “Downton Abbey,” you will love Lady Bracknell, who guards the welfare of the young women in the show with fierceness that also manages to be very serious silliness.

Amber Edens, the student who plays the lead role of Jack, is in her first year at Hartwick College. She has acted in plays since middle school, and has played male roles before, but this is her first lead comedic role. Now that she is in college and a theater major, acting has taken on a whole new meaning for Amber. In high school, everyone involved in the play was there just to have fun, and they might show up or not to a rehearsal. Now theater is a critical part of the education she is receiving, and she and her fellow students are doing it for more than just fun, although it is certainly that. After graduation, Amber hopes to both write and act in plays. She loves live theater and how one has to stay in the moment with the audience to create the “theater magic” everyone in the production is striving for.

Her favorite parts of the play are when Jack and his friend, Algernon, banter back and forth. Jack will make some seemingly serious comment about love or marriage and then Algernon will riff off of that, she said. As I watched the rehearsal, I could see the fun these two actors were having, and the way they worked to connect to the audience to lay the groundwork for the “theater magic.” One of my favorite moments in the banter occurs when Jack assures Algernon he will not need to be a Bunburyist once married to the love of his life, and Algernon assures him in that case Jack’s wife will definitely need to be a Bunburyist.

While the play is over 100 years old, its themes still hold today, Amber pointed out to me. For example, the play is critical of the upper class and the ridiculous nature of people who have so much money they can do whatever they want. And while Amber assured me she is not yet a Bunburyist, she wonders if, as she gets older, she too may need to be one!

The theme of having a secret life—being a Bunburyist—was one of the paradoxes Marc spoke about. A married man, Oscar Wilde stood trial for “gross indecency,” for at the time there was no common vocabulary for homosexuality. So as absurd and comedic as the premise of being a Bunburyist might sound, Oscar Wilde stood trial for having his own secret life, of being a Bunburyist, because, like Jack, he could not be himself in public. The first performance of “The Importance of Being Earnest” took place just a little over two months before Mr. Wilde’s trial.

Whether you go to see this play for the wit, the social commentary, or just to be part of the “theater magic,” my own experience is that this is a play that satisfies.

(*My friends eventually stopped looking for me and went back to our neighborhood to report me missing to my parents. Unlike Oscar Wilde, I have never managed to write a hilarious comedy version of the consequences of my actions when I got home.)

You can watch “The Importance of Being Earnest: A Trivial Comedy for Serious People” at the Slade Theater on Hartwick College’s campus April 19-22 at 8 p.m. for $10 general admission, or free with a Hartwick ID.

Next up: “Evil Dead: The Musical,” written by George Reinblatt with music by Frank Cipolla, Christopher Bond, Melissa Morris and George Reinblatt, at SUNY Oneonta’s Goodrich Theater, April 26-29.

Rachel Frick Cardelle covers performing arts at SUNY Oneonta and Hartwick College.