REVIEW: STNJ Opens 2025 Season with Oscar Wilde's Rollicking Romp, THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST
Polished production provides welcome respite from daily cares and concerns.
By Ruth Ross
May 18, 2025
The air in the F.M. Kirby Shakespeare Theatre auditorium veritably crackles with electricity as four very attractive and talented actors—two men and two women—trade Oscar Wilde’s acerbic quips and aphorisms in the playhouse’s inaugural production of their 2025 season: the classic comedy of manners, The Importance of Being Earnest. But the four young ’uns are upstaged by two old pros: one playing the battle-ax mother of one of the girls and the other doing a star turn as a feeble, deaf manservant! (Above: Alvin Keith as Rev. Chasuble, Joyce Meimei Zheng as Cecily Cardew, Marion Adler as Lady Bracknell, Carolyne Leys as Gwendolen Fairfax, Tug Rice as Jack Worthing, Celia Schaefer as Miss Prism & Christian Frost as Algernon Moncrieff. Photo by Avery Brunkus.)
This uproariously tangled web of alter egos and mistaken identities involves a highly improbable plot revolving around two eligible bachelors, one anxious to marry, the other avoiding it like the plague. John (Jack) Worthing’s wild brother Earnest provides Jack with an excuse to escape from his dull home in the country to frolic in town. Algernon Moncreiff’s friend Bunbury provides a similarly convenient excuse for him to escape town to pursue adventures in the country. But Earnest and Bunbury are imaginary characters, created by Jack and Algy to add some spice to their lives. When their deceptions eventually cross paths, a series of hilarious crises threaten to spoil their romantic pursuits.
Sara Beth Hall’s scenery and Austin Blake Conlee’s costumes deserve star billing in this production. The stunning interiors—the London drawing room with a baby grand piano covered in decorative shawls, a divan and heavy draperies and the lighter, flower-filled country garden of Woolton manor house—provide the perfect canvas on which the nonsensical plot unfolds. In a similar vein, the costumes suit (no pun intended) each character very well, with Gwendolyn’s sophisticated getups appropriate for a city deb and Cecily’s more girlish frocks telegraphing her youth and naivete. Conlee saves his big guns for the dowager Lady Bracknell; her gowns and hats befit an upper-class society grande dame, outlandish and over the top to match her outsized personality.
The adage, “timing is everything,” is nowhere truer than when applied to comedy—especially an Oscar Wilde comedy. Under Brian B. Crowe’s splendid direction, the outlandish plot developments, mistaken identities and witty aphorisms occur at breakneck speed so that, given little time for the incongruities to be evident, we accept them as (almost) the truth. Crowe keeps the action moving without its feeling rushed and gives the cast enough time to deliver Wilde’s bon mots to get the laughs they so deserve.
The actors perform their parts with verve. Clad in a velvet smoking jacket and slippers mid-afternoon, Christian Frost’s louche Algernon (above, right) moves agilely around the stage, jumping over furniture and teasing his friend Jack, played with more reserve by Tug Rice (above, left), over his desire to marry and settle down. The two are full of themselves, sure they’re “cool,” dismissive of any responsibility except having fun and spending money and of keeping up appearances (and marrying rich young women) even when they don’t have any dough.
Carolyne Leys’ shallow Gwendolyn is the type of girl you just know will grow up to be her mother—in this case, the dreaded Lady Bracknell. As the character who should be Gwendolyn’s foil, Joyce Meimei Zheng’s Cecily is equally as superficial, despite living far away from the city’s influence and mores, writing in her diary about her dreams and future spouse—even getting engaged to him before they’ve even met! To make the whole thing even more outlandish, both are deliciously obtuse about only loving and marrying a man named Earnest!
The two other lovers—country parson Reverend Chausible, played with droll nincompoopery by Alvin Keith, and the object of his affection, the aging governess Miss Prism, played by Celia Schaeffer with erect, buttoned-up posture and scowling face—both simmer with barely repressed sexuality, like teenagers in heat.
But the two veterans who steal the show are Marion Adler as Lady Bracknell and Richard Bourg as Algernon’s “perfect pessimist” butler Lane and as Jack’s bumbling butler Merriman. Despite her small stature, Adler sails onto the stage like a frigate. With a voice that would wither a rose (or crack a glass), she makes outrageous pronouncements in a “veddy upper clahss” accent and cows the young people (and the audience) with her formidable presence. She appears only twice, but when she’s onstage, all eyes are on her!
As Lane, Bourg is at his officious, pompous best, especially when he moves with military precision, but his performance as the deaf Merriman has the audience rolling. Just watching him serve tea to the two young ladies, complete with quivering cups and wobbly walk, is almost worth the price of admission!
Never mind that you read The Importance of Being Earnest in high school and found it “boring.” Seeing this comedy of manners in the flesh, with its sharp dialogue, social satire, witty one-liners and broad physical comedy—performed with verve, audacity and, above all, impeccable comedic timing—is a testament to the genius of Oscar Wilde.
For the audience, STNJ’s production of The Importance of Being Earnest provides a welcome respite from world affairs, giving us a chance to laugh at the foibles of others, delighting us when long-hidden secrets are revealed and pointing up the silliness of Victorian social norms. I highly recommend seeing it before it closes on June 1—and bring your friends and family. The absurdity of it, performed with great energy, all is fun for all ages.
The Importance of Being Earnest will be performed at the F.M. Kirby Shakespeare Theatre, on the campus of Drew University (36 Madison Ave., Madison), through June 1, 2025. For information and tickets, call the box office at 973.408.5600 or visit online at www.ShakespeareNJ.org.