Experiences, not stuff.
If you’re looking for gifts that will last this holiday season, look for ways to make memories with your loved ones.
You’ll find some lovely memories on sale at Theatreworks, which has followed its gut-punch production of “Cabaret” with the most trivial of trivialities, “The Importance of Being Earnest.”
Can a frivolous confection of British high-society manners be raised to high art?
Well, if you throw some of the sharpest direction and heaviest acting talent at Oscar Wilde’s 1895 theatrical blockbuster, you end up with something, if not important, at least delightful.
Light and trivial? Certainly. But also entertaining as hell, with a satirical edge that cuts deep.
“Earnest” is known for its banter, its verbal wit. But with Chicago-based director Kathryn Walsh (who directed Theatreworks’ production of “Little Women” in 2022) at the helm, it’s far more than a chatty manners comedy. This production explodes with movement.
Chicago actor August Forman, as the flamboyant Algernon, flits around the stage and jumps into seats to chat with audience members. It’s as if the stage is too small to contain him.
Denver actress Erika Mori, as one of two sexy ingenues, has a moment where she’s about to open a can of whoop ass on a rival and brings the house down with a neck crack so common to modern action films.
The plot is pure silly: The aforementioned bouncing-off-the-walls Algernon and his flamboyant frenemy Jack (played by the earnest Denver actor Rakeem Lawrence) create fake identities as they try to woo women, eat muffins and cucumber sandwiches, and climb the social ladder.
This ensemble of local and out-of-town actors may be the most consistent and consistently funny cast I’ve seen in the Springs in some time. But one actor, in particular, steals the show every moment she’s on stage: University of Colorado at Colorado Springs acting teacher Birgitta De Pree, as British matriarch Lady Bracknell, stalks on stage like she just strode out of “Downton Abby,” spouting wit so perfectly dry its like Wilde created the part especially for her.
Director Walsh creates a sense of intimacy by staging the play in the round – meaning the audience surrounds the performing area on all sides – which certainly makes those of us watching feel we’re inside these resplendent manors. (One audience member even got beamed on the head with a flying muffin.)
But that in-the-round structure does create some compromises and inconsistencies. With actors doing British accents (quite well, by the way), they’re often hard to hear. Miss one word, and you miss a punchline. The actors try to play to everyone, but inevitably there will be essential moments when you’re staring at someone’s back.
Still, for its minor flaws and apparent shallowness, “The Importance of Being Earnest” could be that special pre-holiday treat that you’ll remember long after the leftovers are gone.
Details
Produced by UCCS Theatreworks
In the Ent Center for the Performing Arts
5225 N. Nevada Avenue
Colorado Springs, CO 80918
Running Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays through Dec. 21.
Showtimes and tickets at the entcenterforthearts.org.
Warren Epstein is the Pikes Peak Bulletin board chair. His views are his alone. He is not paid for his work here.
