WILDE-LY FUNNY SCRIPT IN GOOD HANDS
Many scripts become dated after 130 years, but thanks to Oscar Wilde’s clever wit, The Importance of Being Earnest — which runs at Lamb’s Players Theatre September 14 through November 10, 2024 — just becomes more delightful and charming. In this light farce, we find two young men leading double lives, trying to avoid the trappings of societal expectations so as to enjoy their freedom. Their stories and lives become entangled as they both adopt the faux name Ernest while working to gain the favor of two desirable socialites. Because, as they know, “The truth is rarely pure and never simple.”
The dress parade of Lamb’s Players' The Importance of Being Earnest. Costumes by Jeanne Reith.
This show brings together almost the entire cast of Lamb’s wonderful recent production of Outside Mullingar, with the captivating Rachel VanWormer, the hysterical Brian Mackey, the poignant Deborah Gilmour Smyth, and, the queen of pacing, Kerry Meads returning to direct. Plus, whenever David McBean is onstage, prepare for laughter. Other familiar San Diego names round out this cast: Geno Carr, Michael Lewis Cusimano, John Rosen, Brian Salmon, and Lauren King Thompson. With costume and set design by the very-experienced Jeanne Reith and Sean Fanning, respectively, we can most assuredly expect to be taken back in time.
For those not familiar with the great Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills Wilde (1854 – 1900), he was a flamboyant character, dressed to match, who was a welcome guest in society circles because of his great wit. His book The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890) was a huge success, but it was his only novel. For the most part, his writing fame comes from poetry and his plays, ranging from the intense (and banned in Britain) Salome to the high-society ribbing of Lady Windermere’s Fan. But Earnest, with its wit and carefully configured plot, is arguably the most beloved and most-often produced. If you’ve not seen it before, Lamb’s production will be simply divine.
Lamb’s has been doing full seasons of quality productions for nearly fifty years, steadily building a growing county-wide audience, becoming the region’s third largest not-for-profit professional theatre company after the Old Globe and the La Jolla Playhouse.
The Importance of Being Earnest
Lamb’s Players Theatre
1142 Orange Ave in Coronado
Wed at 2 & 7; Thu & Fri at 7; Sat at 2 & 7; Sun at 2
September 14 through November 10, 2024
for tickets, call 619.437.6000 or visit Lamb’s Players
Michael Louis Cusimano, Brian Mackey & Lauren King Thompson, photo by Nathan Peirson