The Importance of Being Ernest

Last night we attended the Portland Center Stage presentation of Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Ernest. First off the PCS is a great place to see a show, there is not a bad seat in the house. Secondly, I would say that the production was excellent. The story is quite simple, two upper class men fall in love with women that are interested in them for the most shallow of reasons and through a few interesting twists and a lot of Victorian era humor (that stills draws big laughs) we see if the relationships come to fruition. I don't want to go into the plot too much as this is a very famous play, and many people have at least heard of it. What I do want to explore is the role of this play in today's theater.

I have to say I found it strange to sit through a play that was written and first performed over 100 years ago without any modern adaptation. As far as what we saw on stage, I can't imagine it was very different than what a crowd would have seen in 1895. I haven't seen a lot of plays in my day, but more often than not, it has been something avant garde or experimental. For example, work form a current playwright or a modern take on Shakespeare. To see a play that was so far removed from our day was an interesting experience. I felt like the audience should have all been issued period costumes and the venue should have been more in keeping with the times than a Platinum LEED certified building - more like going to an original Shakespeare performance in the new Globe. I am not saying I didn't enjoy the performance, because I did, I just felt like I was watching something as opposed to being part of something and I wish I could have been drawn in more.

The experience is almost like seeing an old movie from the 50's when all you are used to are more modern films. Some people like old films better, but I think the best films, music, books and plays are all being written right now. In the 50's you could only make black and white films, now you can use black and white, saturated color, or washed out gritty film to set a mood. In the 50's you could only make sexual innuendo and even married couples had separate beds, now you can explore relationships of all stripes.

Taking nostalgia out of the equation, there has to be something that talks to you as you live your life today for a play, novel, work of art, etc. to endure and I can't put my finger on what that is for Ernest. There is no doubt it got a lot of laughs last night, but there has to be a 1000 funner plays out there, why do we need this piece of Victoriana to live on? Is it Oscar Wilde? This is his most famous play and he is one of our most enduring authors. Maybe we need this play to live on for him to live on.

The Importance of Being Earnest, February 24th - March 29th, 2009, Portland Center Stage Gerding Theater - Main Stage