Viewing
The Importance of Being Earnest through a queer lens makes so much sense (especially considering playwright
Oscar Wilde's importance in queer history), that I'm surprised to one has thought of it before. Well maybe they have, but new #TCTheater company Little Apple Theatre is the first company I've seen do it that way. Their production, playing at the Historic Mounds Theatre in St. Paul's Dayton's Bluff neighborhood, is quite charming and amusing, not just as a fine production of this clever play, but also in the way it reimagines the relationships in the story, with only one minor edit to the dialogue. And even more intriguing, after this play closes on August 2, they will be doing a different reimagined version of the play at Minnesota Fringe Festival, with the same director and some of the same cast members, but shorted to under one hour, and with all the characters as vampires (because Fringe). See this "Earnestly Queer" production of
The Importance of Being Earnest at the Mounds Theatre through August 2, and then see
The Importance of Being Eternal at Open Eye Theatre August 8-15 as part of the Fringe.
 |
Algie (Adam Rider) and Jack (Nick Hill)
(photo courtesy of Little Apple) |
Paul Willis directs this talented eight-person cast, all of whom lean fully into the ridiculousness of this story that mocks proper English society, with wonderfully exaggerated mannerisms and accents. Without changing any of the dialogue, it's obvious that Algernon (Adam Rider) and Jack (Nick Hall), who goes by Earnest in town, are lovers, through the physicality of the actors, or a vulnerable look after a particularly biting verbal jab. We can also see a spark between the frenemies Gwendolen (Grace Barnstead) and Cecily (Olivia Beauchamp). The one change to the script is giving Jack different aristocratic parentage (remember the handbag?), so that he and Algie are not brothers. And when the marriages are finally, happily arranged between Jack and Gwendolyn, and Algie and Cecily, we can see that within the societal expectations of the time, this is indeed the "
perfect arrangement," that allows the true couples to remain in each other's lives.
 |
Cecily (Olivia Beauchamp) and Gwendolyn (Grace Barnstead)
(photo courtesy of Little Apple) |
The above four actors make for a charming and believable love quadrangle; we can feel the genuine affection between them. Also great are Caulden Parkel as two different (and exasperated) servants, Tinka as Algie's very proper aunt Lady Bracknell, Spencer Cameron as the fluttery governess Miss Prism, conducting a not-so-subtle flirtation with Dan Stephans II's Dr. Chasuble.
The play is performed in three acts with two intermissions, but it doesn't feel long, with about a two and a half hour total runtime (and you can get free refills on popcorn during the two intermissions!). The three acts take place at three distinct locations, neatly accomplished by the versatile set that includes a round bay window and two wall pieces that are moved around in three different configurations, differentiating Algie's London flat, from the country garden, from the country drawing room. Characters are dressed in excellently fussy period clothing, with costume changes between acts as appropriate. And they really drink the tea and eat the cucumber sandwiches and muffins referenced in the script. (Set design by Victoria Jones, costume design by Genevieve Kafka.)
For their inaugural production, Little Apple Theatre has created a unique take on a classic comedy that maintains all of the delightfulness of the original, while adding another layer that only makes it more interesting. And I look forward to even another layer in the Fringe version of this show - vampires!
