For those not familiar with The Importance of Being Earnest,
in brief: Oscar Wilde arranged some snappy one-liners into a sly
critique of the British upper class, disguised them as a romantic
farce, and played them for the clueless enjoyment of said class. Puns
are involved. Now, Portland Center Stage (PCS) weighs in on Wilde’s
classic with a heedlessly high-spirited, by-the-book production.
The word “frothy” keeps coming up in relation to this show. Granted,
the state of the US economy was probably not universally recognized as
“screwed” when PCS selected Earnest as a mainstage production,
but these days it seems almost perverse to present a play about rich
people having fun being rich, even if it is served with a side of
satire (just a dollop, in this production’s case). It’s a poor historic
moment for watching rich people flaunt their undeserved wealth, unless
the underlying intention of the show is to sow the seeds of a class
rebellion. But “frothy”? Sure. Magenta dresses sweep over a
cream-and-beige tiled floor, one-liners snap, pretty young men smirk in
their waistcoats.
The four young leads turn in absolutely serviceable, absolutely
unremarkable performances. Transport them to any regional theater stage
and they’d be equally at home. Chris Coleman’s direction ensures that
no element of the production has time to sink in, as he poses his
pretty cast in variously fetching attitudes while keeping the play
moving at a breathless pace that screeches to two unaccountably abrupt
halts for intermissions.
Thank god for Tim True, Todd Van Voris, and Sharonlee
McLean–local actors all–deployed here to lend a little soul
to this glossy production. Van Voris, in particular, brings a freshness
to Wilde’s oft-repeated lines, something the four leads could learn
from: With three aforementioned exceptions, the production fails to
give the impression that there’s much intellect behind the
bandiage–everything else just froths along.
There’s some debate over just how aggressively Wilde laced
Earnest with homosexual subtext, but Coleman’s production sticks
to the straight and narrow. How I wish PCS had gayed it up—then
at least there’d be something to talk about. As it stands, this little
diversion is the non-event of the season.