This season marks 90 years of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. What better way to celebrate than with a fresh interpretation in the Bowmer Theatre of Oscar Wilde’s comedy, The Importance of Being Earnest?
This version, with lush tropical scenery by Se Hyun Oh, sets the action in British Malaya in 1895, when the Brits had colonized the region. As directed by Desdemona Chiang, we see that local cultures can be just as snobbish and silly as that of the Brits.
First of all, why is it important to be Earnest? Well, two young women have always dreamed of marrying a man named Earnest, but there’s a shortage of young, handsome, rich gentlemen by that name.
The plot proceeds to complicate the lives of the two women, and two men who are friends, by throwing them into a comedy of mistaken identity. The unforgettable characters include Ashland veteran Linda Alper as Lady Bracknell, Julian Remulla as John Worthing, the guardian of young, sheltered Cecily Cardew, endearingly played by Thilini Dissanayake.
Worthing is in love with Gwendolen Fairfax, played by Kiki deLohr as a modern young woman who always gets her way. Delightful Hao Feng as Algernon often seems to be made of rubber!
Many of their best lines are popular to this day. Gwendolen declares, “I never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read in the train.”
Lady Bracknell proclaims, “To lose one parent, Mr. Worthing, may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness.” But of course, all’s well that ends well.
