Reviewed
by Will
Stackman
The
short description of Ridiculusmus' "The Importance of Being Earnest," a slight reduction of
Oscar Wilde's most popular play, is too clever by half, a bit like their cognomen,
which is derived from a quote from Horace. The comic duo of David Woods and Jon Haynes play all nine characters in the
farce, using costume and voice changes which become fragmented as the play
picks up pace and the farce heads for its coincidence-filled conclusion. The
most obvious laughs result from costume incongruities though Wilde's famous
epigrams win their share. Audience members familiar with the play will get the
most out of this bravura performance, but probably won't see it as the social
satire director Jude Kelly, OBE, and Ridiculusmus hoped to create for their British
audience. Kelly is a leader of the avant-garde theatre in London, where
political intention often counts as much as aesthetic realization. Americans
have always found the antics of Ernest Worthing and Algernon Moncrief risible
but distant.
The
production is however a solid entertainment even though the joke wears thin
from time to time given the necessary hiatuses created by costume and scenery
changes. The sight of Lady Bracknell with a stuffed game hen entering to
Wagner's "The Ride of the Valkyrie" sets the tone for the evening.
The only gaffe is when Algernon shows up in the country wearing evening clothes
in the afternoon. The considerable humor which results from the pair spending
the last third of the action without pants but still wearing spats to
facilitate costume changes into their female counterparts is collegiate level
at best. The progenitors of their style are the Fringers and the Pythons with a
dose of Benny Hill, an essentially mindless form of comedy where momentary
laughter is the main goal. This leads to little Cecily being played by six foot
shaven headed David Woods galumphing about using the same bad wig he dons to
play Ernest(Jack). Haynes is slightly more restrained. Characterization becomes
pure stereotype as each play Lady Bracknell in the denouement, using a
free-standing version of her Victorian coat and hat for costume.
The
set assembled by Zoe Atkinson has a jumble shop air with props kept on shelves at the
back. There are anachronistic touches like a fridge hidden in the credenza and
a music system which the actors ostensibly--and ostentationally--control using
a remote to provide dramatic background. The costumes were apparently a group
effort. Woods and Haynes' acting is generally broad, with roots in the music
hall, which keeps the focus on the trivial, certainly the author's original
intent. Wilde would have been amused, but probably critical at the overall
crassness of the action. One assumes this visit to Cambridge MA is preparatory
to an American tour, though no future dates this side of the pond have been
announced.
This
play has survived for more than a century not because of its deep analysis of
Victorian mores, but its universal silliness. "The Importance of Being
Earnest" is first and foremost farce, focusing on human fallibility, which
comic writers have been puncturing for at least 2500 years. Three earlier works
by Wilde, "A Woman of No Importance," "An Ideal Husband,"
and "Lady Windemere's Fan," which hadn't proved economically
successful, attempted to display his social criticism in the guise of drawing
room comedy. In "...Earnest" he moves beyond this form, adapting a
lighter tone, like that which had been employed by writers such as W.S.Gilbert,
to create an almost Absurdist farce where misrule reigns. Wilde's departure
from the scene due to scandal left comedy with social intent to the next great
British playwright, erstwhile critic Bernard Shaw, whose first effort started
the farce of the chocolate soldier in "Arms and the Man."
The
next effort by the ART will be Racine's political thriller
"Britannicus" directed by artistic director, Robert Woodruff, who's
departure at the end of this season has just been announced. He's managed to
keep founder Robert Brustein's slogan, "No More Masterpieces!" as a
cornerstone of the now-dominished company's efforts. Perhaps a new leader will
have a fresh idea and fewer associates from the academic avant-garde.