The Iron Door Arts and Theater production of “The Importance of Being Earnest” was staged last week at the theater downtown, and presented one of the classics of western literature to the local audience.  Oscar Wilde is famous for a number of things, but his most enduring legacy as a writer is the quality of his wit and his ability to turn a phrase.  “Earnest” is one of the pre-eminent examples of the foregoing, and unlike his other most famous work, “The Picture of Dorian Gray,” is a fun, entertaining romp with a happy ending.

That’s not to say that the satire isn’t targeted.  As director AdaMarie Campbell explained, the play was written “as a satirical play that lampoons the absurdities and hypocrisy of Victorian society, particularly its emphasis on social status and the double standards surrounding marriage and identity.”  It would take more space than is allowed or appropriate here to explore the ways in which Oscar Wilde himself presented a challenge to those Victorian ideals, and how his biography brought many of those hypocritical positions into stark relief.  The play allows for a complete skewering of the stultifying social practices of the time while somehow conveying a clear sentimental affection for them, a weird mix that seems to have been part of Wilde’s own ambivalence about his place and time.

For American actors in 2025, the play presents a few related obstacles—for one, the rapid fire patter requires organic reaction, rather than memorized phoneme recitation of the lines.  That is to say, the actor must believable speak with full confidence and awareness of not just the text itself, but the implied subtext underlying it, in order for the exchange to be meaningful.  This is further complicated by the accents invoked for the roles. Because adopting a “British” (so noted because there are hundreds of different British accents) accent necessarily results in slower speech for American speakers, it is even more difficult to present the right cadences in dialogue.

While obviously there were some slippery lines, the cast did a great job of letting the audience forget that  the play was British and from the late 1800s very quickly into the proceedings.  By the final act, the accents were natural and unforced, and the meaning of the text was conveyed in its clearest form.  Even the younger members of the audience (although some of Mr. Wilde’s more provocative lines did not reach them) laughed along with the action, and gathered the plot.

As the two male leads, Kris White (as Jack Worthing) and Jaden Hansen (as Algernon Moncrieff) had a field day with the parts.  White caught the simmering irritation of the too-clever-by-half Worthing perfectly, and Hansen was a delight as he gurned Moncrieff’s affected nihilism to
the audience.

Anna Bell as Gwendolyn and Britta Hansen as Cecily were excellent foils in the female lead position, and the quartet worked very well with one another.

Donna Whipple held court as Lady Bracknell with appropriate self-interested imperiousness, and Cassidy Martin provided a contrast in the friendlier form of governess Miss Prism.  Corban Sperry evoked the ecumenical Reverend Chasuble with aplomb, and Shan non Worrell’s Mrs. Merriman and Alex White’s Mr. Grisby were equally well-presented to round out the cast.

Being, as it is, a late Victorian drama, the locations are not especially wide or varied as is the case for drawing room intrigues.  Nonetheless, the sets were of a piece with the lighting and sound, which is to say subtle and well-arranged.  Jeff Richins, AdaMarie Campbell, Jeni Sperry, and William Whipple made up the crew responsible.

A special note as to the quality and effectiveness of Shannon Worrell’s costumes should be made, as they (along with the hair and makeup) did a lot of work to set the scene and make the time and place clearly legible.

In her director’s note, Campbell advised attendees that “I have been so blessed with such a great cast and crew that really stepped up to the challenge of bringing “Earnest” to our small theater.  It has been so much fun to watch each cast member take on a new personality and grow into their roles.  Weeks of endless rehearsals have turned into a production I am so very proud of.  Thank you all for being so awesome!”