The Importance of Being Earnest

A hilarious comedy of misunderstandings, passionate proposals, and cucumber sandwiches, Oscar Wilde’s THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST remains a theatrical classic. Even as we laugh at his characters’ witty words and wily antics, Wilde makes us consider the ways in which we, too, attempt to craft our identities within a world of familial and social expectations. This play celebrates art for art’s sake—theater for the sake of theater; it lauds fun and storytelling and laughter without attempting to dictate moral truths. Though his play is ostensibly a melee of lies and frivolity, Wilde gives us beauty and humor along with a glimpse of incredibly relatable, mundane, everyday life. From academic ennui and overbearing parents to romantic entanglements and passive-aggressive cat fights, EARNEST is the experience of life, expressed in the best words possible.