Earnest in Isolation

Written/adapted by Tom Green

Directed by Jen Starkey and Tom Green, with technical direction by Shannon Montague

Synopsis:

A first-time director for a small community theatre group is given the directorship of a production of Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest. The show, in its original form, was set to be performed on stage in April 2020.  Then, pandemic strikes.  There is pressure from the theatre company to go forward with the production, despite the need for social distancing.  Not wanting to blow his chance at a directorial debut, he agrees to rework the script to make it a bit more modern and virtual-friendly, and plans virtual performances of the show for live streaming.

Flash forward to opening night.  The struggle to find actors for a small community theatre production was as challenging as usual, and made even more so by the pandemic.  The cast that the director managed to assemble is a motley and semi-dysfunctional “family”, that includes an Assistant Director who is the understudy for every part; an actress who was off-off-off Broadway in her younger days before moving to this small community, and has little tolerance for anything, but puts up with this nonsense because she wants desperately to play the iconic role of Lady Bracknell; a young actor who has zero acting experience who is pulled in at the last second when one of the other actors doesn’t show up; and an actress who is “this close to quitting” the entire time, among others.

This farcical comedy addresses the realities of the struggle to cast and put on any production in community theatre, made even more difficult by the challenges and pitfalls of virtual times.  It is an homage to “everything that can go wrong…” farces like Noises Off and The Play that Goes Wrong, and the wonderful world of community theatre.  It is never easy, but the cast manages to include the entire plot of The importance of Being Earnest from beginning to end with various hiccups and detours along the way, showing the indomitable spirit of the stage and those who play on it.