On May 25th I went to see The Importance of Being Earnest performed at the Artist Repertory Theater in Downtown Portland. The Importance of Being Earnest written by Oscar Wilde and directed by Michael Mendelson and had a cast of 8 actors, Sarah Lucht, Ayanna Berkshire, Jamie M. Rea, Linda Alper, Kailey Rhodes, Vana O’Brien, Crystal Ann Muñoz, and JoAnn Johnson. In this analysis, many things will be discussed, such as the costume choice, the set design, and the performance of two characters Lady Bracknell and Reverend Chasuble. The set of the play would often change to various characters homes. The stage was a flexiable stage and consisted of a diamond shaped black and white tile floor with steps leading up to a set white french doors. Above the doors and around the top of the last wall there was thick fancy white crown molding, this molding was also framing a large screen. The screen would alter images to fit the scene better. …show more content…
To keep the play in the original period Wallin’s used clothing that showed its age. The character of Lady Bracknell was dressed in a dark lavender loose satin gown, with oversized ball-shaped puffed shoulders and had a high and tight collar around the neck. The dress reached down to her ankles and she wore an orange belt, which pulled in the dress around her waist. She had many accessories on as well, she was wearing an oversized Victorian hat that was a lighter purple than her dress with large feathers coming out of the top and a bow on the back. In addition, she was wearing a pair of white formal gloves and was carrying a gold handbag and a hand fan. She was also wearing a gold brooch and gold dangling earrings. I think Wallin’s made these choices, not only represent the time of the play, but to also show off the wealth and class that Lady Bracknell
AThe Importance of Being Earnest, a play written by Oscar Wilde, is set in England in the late Victorian era. Wilde uses obvious situational and dramatic irony within the play to satirize his time period. According to Roger Sale in Being Ernest, the title has a double meaning to it and is certainly another example of satire used by Wilde. With a comedic approach, Wilde ridicules the absurdities of the character’s courtship rituals, their false faces, and their secrets. Sale, 478.
The scenic design was also set in various ways, some ways one may not even think of until being presented with them. When a train took off steam would come from a device under the musicians seat that was naked to the eye. When it was a dismal part of the play the lighting controlled by the technical individuals placed behind the audience was sure to express those feelings with the changing of the lights. When riding an elephant different furniture was stacked a rope was used to simulate the trunk, when at sea and sailing the sound was set to simulate being at sea and the lights were dimmed. All the while the actors would move there bodies to simulate actually riding on a train, elephant, or ship, while still putting on an awe-inspiring
The setup of the stage was very simple. It was the living room of a home in the early 1980’s. It looked like a normal household, and it had small things such as crumpled up pieces of paper lying around the wastebasket. It also had a couch, circular class table and a recliner in the living room. The dining room was to the left side of the stage and only had the dining table and surrounding chairs. There was a door in the back of the set where characters entered and exited through. Beside the door was a table and stool where Willum presumably worked on his blueprints for the hotel. The lighting design was great; it put you into the atmosphere of the
Oscar Wildes ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’’ is believed by many to be his most genius work and certainly has withstood the test of time. The play is set in London during the 1890’s in which time frame aristocracy and upper class held the majority of the countries wealth. Many of the comical aspects question the morals of the upper class in which he satirises throughout the play. One method of this, for instance is through one of the main protagonist, Algernon Moncrieff. Algernon is an upper class individual who is oblivious to the world around him in such an exaggerated manner that it makes his character comically adjusted for Wildes own views.
Oscar Wilde’s, “The Importance of Being Earnest”, play carefully uses satire as a didactic tool to mask the underlying social commentary with the help of comedy through characters theme and dialogue. Wilde uses satire to ridicule class and wealth, marriage and the ignorance of the Victorian Age. Audiences are continually amused by Wilde’s use of linguistic and comic devices such as double entendre, puns, paradox and epigrams, especially in the case of social commentary and didactic lessons. Characters portrayed in the play such as Jack, Cecily, Algernon and Lady Bracknell, allow Wilde to express his opinions on the social problems during the Victorian Age.
The set was a relatively simple proscenium stage. It protruded into the audience slightly in a semi-circle. This made the viewer feel more involved with the performance and closer to the characters. This connection with the characters meant every decision and every scene made the audience feel something, as if it had happened in their own life. This effect could have been put in place to reprosent that many people were affected by the world wars and wars in general.
Identity and social class can be closely tied together. Identity is the part of a person that makes up who he/she is. Social class has been known ever since the late eighteenth century. In the play, The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde, Miss Prism’s identity of knowledge and education leads her into the middle class; while in the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, the monster’s identity leads him into no social class at all, in which he becomes excluded from society. Also, in the play, Fences by August Wilson, Troy’s identity of being an African American male leads in a conflicting struggle with society and with his relationships in his family. Much of literature and artwork can depict this idea of identity and how society places
In Oscar Wilde’s drama The Importance of Being Earnest, he uses light-hearted tones and humor to poke fun at British high society while handling the serious theme of truth and the true identity of who is really “Earnest.” Truth as theme is most significantly portrayed through the women characters, Gwendolen and Cecily but to present serious themes comically, Wilde portrays women to be the weaker sex of society, despite the seriousness of the subject—the identity of the men they want to marry.
Firstly I would set this play in the 21st century so that a modern audience could relate to it. Algernon, one of the main characters in the play, would live in a luxury apartment in the centre of London, over looking the River Thames. His apartment would have a minimalist theme to it and would be influenced by aesthetic; for example he would have a piece of abstract art on the wall for no reason other than that he thinks it looks nice.
Satire in Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest. "The Importance of Being Earnest" is a play by Oscar Wilde, set in the late 1800's. His actors are playing upper class citizens who are very self-absorbed. The play is set amongst upper class, wealthy people. They appear not to work and are concerned with their own pleasure.
It has been said that ‘Comedy, beginning in turmoil but ending in harmony, celebrates life.’ and this is the general idea with ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ Wilde proves that this comedy of manners does conform to this model. As Lady Bracknell tries to prolong the resolution and tries to prevent the marriage between Jack and Gwendolyn, she can be seen as a ‘gorgon’ because she refuses to let Gwendolyn marry Jack. Despite this, She may be seen as a heroine because she is a strong, commanding woman who isn’t passive like traditional Victorian women as she makes decisions which indicates that she has power within the play. Furthermore, Wilde has constructed her in such a way that she dominates the company wherever she is present and judges people according to their wealth even though she is from a non-aristocratic background. Therefore, Lady Bracknell may be viewed as a character that stays ‘bad’. Despite the obstacles surrounding Lady Bracknell, there are some aspects throughout the play which do conform to this model. For instance, Jack faces problems during the play which are then resolved through his actions and are consequently followed by happiness in the resolution when he finds out ‘the vital Importance of Being Earnest’ . Similarly, the same can be said for Algernon who lies to please the women that he desires to achieve happiness in Act 3. Therefore, depending on each character and their actions beforehand, they either face happiness or distress which indicates that comedy does have some elements of movement from distress to happiness and from ‘bad’ to ‘good’.
I believe this is a thrust stage since the setup was semi-circular. During the play, they used all the downstage position to act majority of the play. I loved the way the stage was set up as a beach scene, and to know most of the stages props was had more made them even more interesting. It had all the features of a beach such as the palm trees, sand, wooden walkway, and the beach sound. The lighting of the play did not really transform while they were acting. The only time the lights were very dramatic is when the first Act was about to end. I dislike the way they ended the play, they should have used curtains. It was amusing when Sarah and Leslie ended the act on their back in their submission pose. The sounds of the play were breathtaking, also they were precise when they needed to be. For example, when they needed the airplane sound effect, it was right on time. There should have been supplementary music added throughout the play in the background, even while they were acting. That would have made the play catchier and more realistic, the birds are nonstop, and the ocean sounds are always going. The conflict of the play was Man vs. Man and Man vs. Nature because Leslie the lizard and Charley the man, were extremely cruel to each other. Overall, my experience of this play was wonderful, the characters were well trained, and
The Importance of Being Earnest appears to be a conventional 19th century farce. False identities, prohibited engagements, domineering mothers, lost children are typical of almost every farce. However, this is only on the surface in Wilde's play. His parody works at two levels- on the one hand he ridicules the manners of the high society and on the other he satirises the human condition in general. The characters in The Importance of Being Earnest assume false identities in order to achieve their goals but do not interfere with the others' lives. The double life led by Algernon, Jack, and Cecily (through her diary) is simply another means by which they liberate themselves from the repressive norms of society. They have the freedom to create themselves and use their double identities to give themselves the opportunity to show opposite sides of their characters. They mock every custom of the society and challenge its values. This creates not only the comic effect of the play but also makes the audience think of the serious things of life.
In the play, Importance of Being Earnest, Oscar Wilde ridicules and identifies the negative aspects of Victorian society through comedic dialogue. He uses characters with ridiculous personalities to demonstrate his idea of Victorian life. By making absurd scenes with foolish characters, it is his way of mocking the Victorian lifestyle passive aggressively.
One major theme of The Importance of Being Earnest is the nature of marriage. Throughout the entire play, marriage and morality serve as the catalyst for the play, inspiring the plot and raising speculation about the moral character of each person. Throughout the entire play, the characters are constantly worried about who they are going to marry and why they would marry them. This theme is the most prevalent theme throughout the entire play and shows what impact marriage had on a Victorian society. This essay will prove that marriage is the theme of this play.