Audience members at the opening night performance of The Importance of Being Earnest, at the Saidye Bronfman Centre, were treated to a high energy show full of classic Oscar Wilde witticisms.
Visiting director Ben Barnes, former artistic director of Ireland’s Abbey theatre, believes Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest is “the kind of play that can resonate at any time.” Wilde wrote the play in 1895, but the social commentary it makes on issues like marriage, society and personal values is still pertinent, Barnes feels, to audiences today.
At a “Sunday at the Saidye” lecture Barnes gave last week to interested theatre-followers, he quoted W.H. Auden as having said The Importance of Being Earnest is “the only pure verbal opera in the English language.” This interpretation is perhaps what piqued Barnes’ interest in doing the show at the Saidye, having been closely involved with the opera world in his home town of Dublin.
Barnes said it was important to him to let the work play for itself without being overcrowded with exterior interpretation. While directors sometimes impose their own artistic vision onto the show they are doing, Barnes feels this added layer can sometimes hurt the production. Barnes had considered using the opera allusion to draw on the parallel he noticed between Wilde’s characters and characters in Mozart’s opera Cosi Fan Tutte. He eventually decided, however, that the approach was too academic and “would not serve the play well.”
Barnes decided to set the play in the 1920s and to focus on the language of the piece rather than the possible stylistic choices it could offer.
“We’ve choreographed this in a way that nothing will interfere with the words coming across,” said Barnes.
The words certainly did come across during Thursday night’s performance. With strong performances by Soulpepper Theatre Company actors, the audience was guaranteed not to miss a beat.
Because the humour in Wilde’s work is so dependent on his playful use of language, it is important for actors to give Wilde’s words ample weight in their deliverance to the audience. Toronto’s Soulpepper company demonstrated a clear ability to colour the language of the piece. The result was a very amusing representation of some classic Wilde moments.
The set for the show was very simple, with just a few bookcases and chairs to decorate the room characters play in. A hedge is brought out for Act II to signify that the scene takes place outdoors. Barnes said the minimalist set was part of his plan for the show.
“What was important for me,” he said, “was to strip the play back to its bare essentials as far as setting is concerned. I don’t think the scenery should draw attention to itself.”
Barnes said the use of less structures and props on stage allows the text to really come forward.
“It is a challenge to actors,” he said, “but it clarifies things from the audience point of view.”
Audience members at Thursday night’s performance seemed to be very clear about the light, witty humour of Wilde’s classic piece. The three-Act show played before a packed house and much laughter could be heard from the rows of seats throughout the show.
The Importance of Being Earnest is playing at the Saidye Bronfman Centre for the Arts until Nov. 27. For information or tickets, call (514) 739-7944
