by Sylvia Blush ~

The Ark Theatre Company has sought out and produced the Los Angeles debut of Oscar Wilde’s original intended work Lady Lancing “A Serious Comedy for Trivial People” Or, The Importance of Being Earnest, “A Trivial Comedy for Serious People”. For over one hundred years, this widely recognized classic has been performed in three acts until scholars uncovered the full length version now being played at the Attic Theatre.

The Importance of Being Earnest is Mr. Wilde’s witty depiction of the aristocratic views of social behavior. It is a commentary on how those who take themselves too seriously wind up looking utterly ridiculous. All in all, and more simply, it is a comedy of manners.

John Worthing is known as Earnest to Algy and the other people in town, but in the country he is known as John or Uncle Jack. Algy having invented his own ill-ridden friend, Bunbury, from the country, uses the falsified sudden illnesses to get out of social events, especially those with people he wishes not to see. Eventually, Algy ends up in the country and tells John’s family that his name is Earnest. They both fall in love with two separate girls and the men do all they can to avoid having to tell them their real identities because the girls only wish to marry men who are named Earnest.

Walking in to the performance space, I got a hint of the production’s simplicity. Brittney Melton’s sound design combined with Christina Silvoso’s scenic painting, made me feel like ordering a cup of tea and scones. As the classical music gently rang out, I scanned the set only to imagine the color palette chosen was anything but unintentional. Classic impressionistic black drawings on a cream background set the mood for this not-so-black and white storyline. Costumes by actor Osa Danam (Miss Prism) were collectively lovely and true to the time period Wilde intended for the play. Although the characters remained in the same clothes throughout the show, the subtlety in change for Mr. Worthing was quite clever. A change in top or bottom would have assisted in exploring the passage of time. The lighting by Michael Gonzales enhanced the tableaux which opened the beginning of each scenes.

Directed by Derek Charles Livingston and Douglas Leal (who also played Algernon) …Earnest begins and ends lively. The overall pacing, however, needed a little nudge. Most of the direction felt in sync with the timing of the dialogue, but I was unclear if stumbled lines or added material interfered with the overall pacing of the show. Wilde’s sharp wit fell a little flat as the momentum stalled moving into intermission.

Moments of the production also felt a little over played rather than played straight which would have better allowed the comedy to shine through the absurdity of the text. Relying heavily on the art of storytelling, however, Mr. Livingston and Mr. Leal creatively removed the use of any real handheld props. The actors pantomimed all of the actions, never once being a distraction within the scene. They moved seamlessly from one cup of tea to cucumber sandwich without ever breaking my focus on the characters. The use of staging was well crafted and opened up the small performance space for this bigger than life reality.

One scene in particular, however, caught the essence of Wilde’s intention of stereotyping aristocratic behavior as judgmental on a person’s character based on their appearance. The quick banter and unspoken body language by Anna Quirino as Gwendolen and Caroline Sharp as Cecily had all the elements of debutante cattiness down to a tee. Often the laughter from the audience came when no words were spoken. Miss Sharp in particular was exceptionally joyful to watch. She had complete command of the language in both cadence and delivery.

Despite my minor quibbles, I would recommend seeing the Ark’s production for posterity reasons. Most of my observations may be ironed out as the shows run continues. Fans of Oscar Wilde, and fans of this play in particular, will be entertained. Future production can decide for themselves if the deleted scene should remain deleted for another hundred years.

Lady Lancing or The Importance of Being Earnest plays Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm and Sundays at 2pm through August 15th, 2010 (note: Sun. Aug. 7th the show is at 7pm).

The Attic Theatre is located at 5429 W. Washington Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90016. Street parking only, so arrive early.

Ticket prices are $20 general admission and $15 for students and seniors.

For reservations, call 323-969-1707 or info@artheatre.org, with more detailed information at www.arktheatre.org.