This year’s winter play, which will take place on March 13 and 14 in the Black Box Theater, will feature Algonquin’s take on the classic Oscar Wilde story: “The Importance of Being Earnest.”
Set in Victorian-Era England, “The Importance of Being Earnest” is a witty comedy about mistaken identities, secret double lives and romance. Jack Worthing, who leads a double life as “Ernest” in the city and “Jack” in the country, falls for his best friend Algernon’s cousin, who insists she can only love a man named Ernest—only to discover that Algernon is playing the same game to win his ward Cecily’s heart.
Director Brian Kelly said that the humorous commentary was what drew him to the play.
“It’s written as a satire on the then-modern social climate and how people viewed each other,” Kelly said. “It highlights so much about how people thought the different levels of society worked, and it just makes it so funny because it tears society down to its base level.”
Senior Henry Hart, who stars as Algernon, enjoys the unique aspects of his character.
“Algernon is very carefree,” Hart said. “He has no cares in the world. He just wants to have fun everywhere he goes, and that’s the best part about the character.”
Sophomore Keira Terry, who plays the role of two mischievous butlers, agrees.
“I like the personality of the characters, and just the craziness to then connect everybody all together,” Terry said. “It’s really fun and goofy.”
Traditionally, Algonquin’s winter play has gone on to compete in Massachusetts competitions. This year, “The Importance of Being Earnest” was featured in the Massachusetts Theater Festival, which took place on Saturday, March 8.
“What happens [in the Massachusetts Theater Festival] is that each of the schools has a certain amount of time to set up their show, perform their show, and then they will get to be critiqued by some professional theater judges,” Kelly said. “It gives all of the schools a chance to see and celebrate theater with each other, but also to hear feedback from professionals and in our case, it’ll allow them to critique our performance.”
However, compressing “The Importance of Being Earnest,” which has a run time of around two and a half hours, was a challenge.
“Because we‘re doing the play for a festival, we have to make it 40 minutes long,” Kelly said. “So, I took the show and I went through it pretty much line by line and took out the elements that I thought were sort of extraneous and really focused on the story aspect and trying to make sure that some of the best lines were there.”
Gonkstage saw success at the festival, as Hart, along with senior Ben Kahn and freshman Julia Daloisio, won awards for their acting. Furthermore, senior prop master Audrey McManus was awarded for her prop design. Cast and crew hope that audiences will leave with a better understanding of society.
“[The play] is more than just a satire, and I do think that it would be fun for audiences to question the fact that sometimes history keeps repeating itself,” Kelly said. “The same things that Oscar Wilde was critiquing and satirizing in his original work are the same things that we make satire out of today. Even though the language is different, the lessons and experiences are still very real.”
Tickets for “The Importance of Being Earnest” are currently selling online for $5. The link can be accessed through QR codes on school poster boards.
