Wilde's wild "Earnest" play at the Sierra Madre Playhouse

---Theatre review

The Sierra Madre Playhouse´s new production of "The Importance of Being Earnest," written by the legendary and often scandalous Oscar Wilde, is a bright, witty comedy, packed with dry humor, class snobbery and delicious satire.

It also has a few very funny visuals to amuse and amaze the audience, such as the Mutt & Jeff effect produced by the height differences between the two leading male characters. (Brett Hamilton who plays Jack Worthing is very tall, especially with the top hat he wears when he enters. But he pulls it off with such aplomb, that after his first few lines, you hardly notice.)

Wilde´s play, which was written in the late nineteenth century, often gets bogged down with pompous dialogue and posturing characters, but under the clever direction (and surely the cracking whip) of Patricia Wylie, the SMP production zips along at a delightfully brisk pace.

Cast members seem to revel in their roles, stretching each characterization to the nth degree. They have such a jolly good time telling this convoluted story of two high society men named Algernon and Jack, and the women who really would rather they be called "Earnest."

Jason Perlman plays Algernon Moncreif, a playboy with more flair than money who enjoys slipping out of London on occasion to escape the tedious invitations his aunt, Lady Bracknell (Koni McCurdy) forces on him. To escape these loathsome appointments, Algernon invents the elderly Mr. Bunbury whose ill health requires his presence elsewhere at a moment´s notice.

By accident, Algernon discovers his best friend also has a "Bunbury." As a country squire, Jack oft escapes to London to visit his non-existent brother, Earnest, whose identity he assumes when he arrives. Gleeful at his friend´s deception, Algernon dubs him "Earnest in town/Jack in the country," and pumps him about his beautiful young ward, Cecily (Betsy Reisz).

Jack/Earnest happens to love Gwendolen (Jessica Culaciati), Algernon´s niece and Lady Bracknell´s daughter. She adores "her Earnest" (the name gives her "vibrations") and will settle for no other named man. When Lady Bracknell questions him to determine if he´s a suitable husband, she discovers that though he has money and lands galore, he is a foundling. Horrified, she refuses the match.

Meanwhile Algernon visits Cecily at the country estate in the guise of Jack´s "brother," Earnest, and the two are soon in love. "I always knew I´d marry an Earnest," she exclaims. When Jack – determined to give up the playboy life - arrives home to announce that his make-believe brother has died suddenly, he discovers Algernon there, posing as the deceased Earnest!

From there, the play gets even more riotously complicated and deliciously facetious. Love must be in the country air for Cecily´s tutor, Miss Primm (Osa Danam) has also quite fallen for the local vicar, Rev Chasuble (Richard Large), who, by and by, agrees to rechristen both the men "Earnest" so they won´t loose their lady loves.

The solution to all their woes is finally revealed at the end, but what rollicking fun we have on the journey there.

Perlman´s expressions and gestures are positively charming, and his upper class British accent is spot on. (How DOES he say all that so quickly and so precisely?) Culaciati is equally appealing as the beautiful and flirtatious Gwendolen.

The delightfully aloof butlers, Lane (T.G. Cody) and Merriman (Phil Apolian) with their straight faces and stiff manners, are a perfect foil to the farce going on around them, and are sure to elicit giggles and snickers from the soberest of viewers.

Victoria Profitt´s gorgeous stylized sets enclose the action with simplicity and beauty. (Kudos go to the stage crew who make the changes so effortlessly.)

"The Importance of Being Earnest" at the Sierra Madre Playhouse: an evening well spent.

When: Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 pm, Sundays at 2:30 pm, now through September 26

Admission: $20; seniors (65+) and students (13-18), $17; children 12 & under, $12

Reservations: (626) 355-4318 or visit: www.sierramadreplayhouse.org

Location: 87 W. Sierra Madre Blvd., Sierra Madre, CA 91204 Free parking behind the theatre