Performance Review- Andrew Collins

The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde Performance Review

7 pm, October 16th, 2015 Guignol Theatre

Directed by Christina Ritter and Russell Henderson

Starring Michael Main, Faith Gingrich-Goetz, Peter Laprade, Curtis Lipsey III, Jessica Agro, Cassady Gorrell, Emma Stumpf, Alexis Slocum, Taha Mandviwala, and Wright Williams

This take on the play didn’t stray far from the average person’s interpretation of the play. The characters were just as eccentric as one imagines them when they read the play for the first time. The only real deviation from expectations is the casting of Dr. Canon Chasuble as an Indian man. Obviously one wouldn’t expect a random Indian Priest in the middle of 19th century England. This provides for some comedic effect as the unusual casting allows the actor a fair amount of artistic liberty on the persona of the character, where the other actors might not have any. This performance was very neat in that it was performed in a Black Box Theatre, giving the performance a personal feel. The costuming was very well done in that it perfectly portrayed the eccentric nature of all the characters. The acting was also accurate to this characteristic of the play. All of the actions of the performers were exaggerated to the point of ridiculousness, which worked very well with the play as a whole. The set was simple yet effective, as the small stage only allowed for the bare minimum furniture. It was spaced well so that the characters could portray their emotions to all sides of the theatre while still seeming like they were talking naturally. Although I only experienced the play from one side, I could easily tell that the performance quality projected to all sides of the theatre. Finally, the use of props was simple and effective. The props were mostly food items, and the actors portrayed different emotions such as nervousness or pride through their eating very effectively. The start of the play actually had a very interesting use of props, one of the actors was actually hidden under a blanket on a loveseat for around half an hour from the time the audience was let in to when the play started. I actually had no idea of her presence as she was hidden very well. Overall, the excellent costuming and very eccentric performance from every actor on the stage portrayed the events of the play very effectively, and made for a very entertaining performance.