T H E A T R E R E V I E W TICKET
Saturday, July 12, 2008
The Kingston Whig-Standard
Lying prigs, witty twits
make for a lovely night
By Greg Burliuk
If, in real life, you met any of the
characters in Oscar Wilde’s The
Importance of Being Earnest, you’d
find the men to be lying prigs and the
women witty twits. Such is the magic
of theatre, however, that a great
script, fine actors and good direction
can allow you to suspend reality and
have a lovely night at the theatre.
The jury is already in as far as the
script goes. Since first being produced
in 1895, the play has been a
hit and, every few years or so in
Kingston, someone revives it. Why?
We are a town of anglophiles (at
least the people running the local
theatres are) and Earnest set the
standard for light, frothy British musicals
where upper-crust cads coolly
make witty put-downs of each other
and various societal practices in between
getting involved in nonsensical
plots.
Sometimes, however, the froth
needs to be stirred a little – why it
took Wilde almost three hours and
three acts to get through the nonsense
is a mystery to me, and, apparently,
he originally wrote it in four
acts and it was cut down to three.
Bottle Tree Productions is the latest
to tackle Earnest with a youthful
cast that isn’t half bad (the female
half, that is)
To make Earnest work, the dialogue
has to be crisp and understandable
to the audience; and, more
importantly, the actors have to at
least appear to believe in what they’re
doing. The two chief male actors
have a more difficult task than their
female counterparts in this respect.
That’s because they both are given a
silly way of getting out of situations –
they go look after imaginary friends
or brothers, Jack to his n’er-do-well
brother in London and Algernon to a
sick friend in the Bunbury. Both also
have the misfortune of falling in love
with women who want to marry
someone named Earnest.
Both are supposed to men of the
world – Algy a somewhat impoverished
fellow of title and Jack, abandoned
at birth, is lucky enough to
have been saved by a wealthy man.
And this is where the actors playing
those roles run into problems.
As Jack, the slightly older of the
two, Peter Jensen falls back sometimes
on a phoney suave accent reminiscent
of Thurston Howell III from
Gilligan’s Island. Plus, he has to remember
the period he’s in. It’s not
touchy-feely, so he should keep his
hands off everyone, especially in one
scene where he grabs the parson.
Mitchell Nasheim usually plays
more physically comedic roles than
this one and, although he utters his
lines flawlessly, he’s a bit young for
the part and not entirely convincing.
Looking at one’s fingernails is also not
the epitome of suave preening either.
The women do have an easier
time of it and absolutely sparkle. As
Cecily, the country girl who wins Algy’s
heart, Hannah Smith is the star
of the show and utterly believable
as the 18-year-old with the rich fantasy
life and lovely smile. As Gwendolyn,
Jack’s belle, Carin Ann Crabtree
(although saddled with a hat
that always looks on the verge of
falling off) is equally impressive, especially
when showing polite anger.
In smaller parts, Colin Robbins is
fantastic as the pompous parson
and Elizabeth Taylor commendable
as the absent-minded tutor.
The part of Lady Bracknell has
been played by many illustrious actresses
over the years and is a crucial
one, since she is Gwendolyn’s
disapproving mother and holds the
key to the ultimate plot resolution.
Unfortunately, in that role, Sally
Jensen had trouble remembering her
lines, which meant that every time she
was on stage, momentum was lost
while she groped for them. Director
Charles Robertson might have been
better advised to cast either Taylor, or
(my choice) Robbins in the part.
Still, if you like British comedy,
you’ll enjoy this show. And, surprisingly,
even though the Wellington
has no air conditioning, it’s quite
cool on a summer’s eve.
THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST
Hannah Smith (right), pictured with Mitchell Nasheim, is the star of the production. Michael Lea/The Whig-Standard
Sally Jensen plays Lady Bracknell in Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest
C A S T
Jack - Peter Jensen
Algernon - Mitchell Nasheim
Cecily - Hannah Smith
Gwendolyn - Carin Ann Crabtree
T H E I M P O R TA N C E
O F B E I N G E A R N E S T
A play written by Oscar Wilde.
Director - Charles Robertson
Stage Manager - Mark Gauthier
Set Design - Kyle White
A Bottle Tree Productions production
now playing until July 26 at the
Wellington Street Theatre, 126
Wellington St., with performances
from Tuesday to Saturday at 8 p.m.
plus a matinee Saturday at 2 p.m.
Tickets are $20 for adults, seniors
$18 and students $15. For tickets or
more information, call the Grand
Theatre box office at 613-530-2050.
RATING: 3 out of 5 stars