The The Importance of Being Earnest at Austin Shakespeare

Austin, TX Austin Shakespeare will bring Oscar Wildes hilarious comedy The Importance of Being Earnest to online audiences at 7:30 p.m. on four evenings, Nov. 19 to 22. Suggested minimum donations of $10 for adults and $5 for children, will be accepted at www.austinshakespeare.org.Even today, we find that Oscar Wilde is the master of wit. From the first moments of the play to the final revelation, his characters make me smile. Earnest is his masterpiece of comic situations, said Artistic Director Ann Ciccolella. And having Fran Dorn return to Austin Shakespeare as Lady Bracknell brings a whole level of joy to our experience. Set in the late 19th century, The Importance of Being Earnest skewers social manners with hilarious satire through the story of two friends, Jack and Algernon, who are both courting young women under false identities. The story ranges from Jacks country estate to Algernons London townhouse, with Algernons formidable aunt, Lady Bracknell embodying the staid traditions of the British upper class and delivering some of the plays most oft-quoted quips. The diverse professional cast in this play, subtitled A Trivial Comedy for Serious People, features some of Austins finest actors. Equity actor Franchelle Stewart Dorn, as the indomitable Lady Bracknell, has appeared with Austin Shakespeare as Medea and Cleopatra; Dorn spent much of her career as a leading player in the Shakespeare Theater Company in Washington D.C. Joining Dorn will be her daughter, professional actress Amani, who was raised in Austin. Filming in Atlanta, Amani will portray Lady Bracknells daughter Gwendolen Fairfax in what will be her first play with her mother. Previously seen in Austin Shakespeare productions including As You Like It, A Midsummer Nights Dream and The Odyssey, Matthew Graham Wagner will portray Jack Worthing. Tamil Periasamy will join online from Atlanta to play Jacks charming friend Algernon Moncrieff; Periasamy enchanted Austin Shakespeare audiences in Tom Stoppards Indian Ink at the Long Centers Rollins Theatre. Austin Shakespeare alumni Toby Minor will play Merriman, the butler; Michelle Jackson will portray Miss Prism and Robert Deike is Rev. Chasuble. New to the company is University of Texas at Austin senior and frequent film actor, Khali Sykes, as the clever country girl, Cecily Cardew.Costumes, designed by Aaron Kubacak, will be set in the Edwardian period in frilly and frothy colors including delightful hats. Lowell Bartholomee will return to Austin Shakespeares online set design with elegant virtual backgrounds from the striped wallpaper of Algernons townhouse to the flowered gardens of the house in the country.ABOUT AUSTIN SHAKESPEARE: The Bard is only the beginning. Audiences travel many roads with this professional company for surprising and entertaining theater productions featuring heightened language currently on Zoom, Facebook, and YouTube and live at The Long Centers Rollins Studio Theatre in the fall and spring, as well as Free Summer Shakespeare in Zilker Park and Young Shakespeare at the Curtain Theatre replica. Founded in 1984 and the only professional classical theater company in Central Texas, Austin Shakespeare stages performances that are fresh, bold, imaginative, thought-provoking and eminently accessible connecting the truths of the past with the challenges and possibilities of today.Austin Shakespeare is a proud member of the Austin Creative Alliance.