Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest at Stratford’s Avon Theatre emphasizes both the play’s verbal wit and its visual style. Set in 1895 Victorian London, the staging balances the comedy’s surface silliness with its sharper observations about class, identity and social performance.
The story centres on dandies Algernon Moncrieff (Carter Gulseth) and John Worthing (Joe Perry), whose carefully maintained deceptions drive the plot. Algernon is awaiting Worthing’s arrival, while Worthing comes to town intending to propose to Algernon’s cousin, Gwendolen Fairfax (Allison Lynch).
Both men depend on invented identities to avoid social expectations. Algernon uses a fictional and sickly friend named Bunbury to escape unwanted obligations, while Worthing is Jack in the country, guardian to Cecily Cardew (Marissa Orjalo), and Ernest in London. Algernon’s interest in Cecily adds another layer to the play’s escalating complications.
The comical deceptions soon draw the attention of Lady Bracknell (Fiona Reid), Gwendolen’s mother and Algernon’s aunt, whose disapproving objections shape much of the play’s conflict, romantic and otherwise. Cecily’s governess, Miss Prism (Lucy Peacock), and the Rev. Canon Chasuble (Ben Carlson) provide a secondary comic thread that expands the production’s focus beyond the central pairings.
As a long-buried secret from Jack’s past is revealed, the production underscores Wilde’s interest in mistaken identity, social convention and the instability of public image.
The production’s visual design is one of its strongest features. Imogen Wilson’s warm, sunlit lighting highlights Bretta Gerecke’s gorgeous-looking sets, particularly the floral world created on the Avon stage. Flowers along the front of the stage and a floral scrim give the garden scenes a refined quality, while Algernon’s parlour uses billowing pink walls and oversized ornaments to establish a deliberately comic tone. The visual palette also connects with Moncrieff’s pink socks, vest and shoes, extending the production’s humour into its design choices.
Cory Sincennes’ in-house costumes contribute significantly to the production’s period style, using bright pastels, rich fabrics and varied textures to define character and social setting. Thomas Lappano’s hand-painted landscape paintings add further detail to the overall visual composition. The design elements function not only as background but as part of the production’s comic and thematic language.
Director Krista Jackson maintains a light, controlled pace, allowing Wilde’s language to remain central while incorporating physical comedy. The cast’s timing is a key part of the production’s effectiveness, with pauses, glances and carefully measured line readings supporting the text’s humour. Sean Arbuckle’s Lane (servant to Algernon) makes strong use of the double take, while Peacock’s Miss Prism and Carlson’s Chasuble bring understated comic precision to their scenes.
Reid gives Lady Bracknell a commanding, grand dame presence, delivering the character’s judgments with authority and restraint. Her late entrance in Act 2 provides one of the production’s more sharply staged comic moments. Lynch and Orjalo bring clarity and energy to Gwendolen and Cecily, particularly in the Act 2 tea-table scene, where politeness becomes a source of witty, hilarious conflict. Gulseth and Perry are effective as Algernon and Worthing, especially in moments when the characters’ competing deceptions begin to unravel, most especially evident in their Act 2 eating of muffins.
The production’s success lies in its ability to make a comedy of manners from more than a century ago feel accessible without forcing contemporary relevance. Its freshness comes largely from pace, design and the cast’s attention to Wilde’s language.
In her programme note, Jackson writes that the play allows audiences to imagine “the freedom to live as deliciously as our hearts and minds will allow.” The production reflects that idea through its emphasis on performance, style and social play.
The result is a staging that presents pleasure, polish and theatrical craft as central to the play’s appeal.
Stratford’s The Importance of Being Earnest is a polished and entertaining production that highlights the continuing strength of Wilde’s comic writing.
Running time: approximately two hours and twenty minutes with one interval.
The production runs to October 23 at the Avon Theatre, 99 Downie Street, Stratford. For tickets: stratfordfestival.ca or call 1-800-567-1600.
THE STRATFORD FESTIVAL presents
The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde
Directed by Krista Jackson
Set Designer: Bretta Gerecke
Costume Designer: Cory Sincennes
Lighting Designer: Imogen Wilson
Composer: Sarah Slean
Sound Designer: John Gzowski
Stage Manager: Meghan Callan
Performers: Sean Arbuckle, Ben Carlson, Ashley Dingwell, Carter Gulseth, Matthew Kabwe, Allison Lynch, Landon Nesbitt, Marissa Orjalo, Lucy Peacock, Joe Perry, Fiona Reid, Liam Tobin
