Interview: Melissa Rain Anderson of THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST at Westport Country Playhouse

There probably isn’t a theatergoer who hasn’t already seen Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest. It has all the elements of any farce but has the bonus of some of Oscar Wilde’s greatest quotes.

For some inexplicable reason, The Importance of Being Earnest, A Trivial Comedy for Serious People has never been produced at the Westport Country Playhouse. What better way to open the Playhouse’s 95th season than with Oscar Wilde?

Although the play is set in 1895, director Melissa Rain Anderson is elevating the feel from the dark, heavy Victorian age to the simpler, lighter, more relaxed Edwardian era. This gives the play not just a whole new look, but a visual feast with a set design based on birds and “pushing out the color in … the costumes,” she says. Of course, James J. Fenton’s set design and Annie J. Le’s costumes will be stunning, as they meet the standards theatergoers expect at the Playhouse. This time you will see jewel tones and staircases that boost the play’s timeless appeal to a whole different stratosphere. “It’s a gymnastic workout for the actors to go up and down for some of the comedic chases,” she says.

The play lends itself to various interpretations including casting a man as Lady Bracknell. Ten years ago, David Suchet played the daunting Lady Bracknell. But this production is not about gender fluidity or making statements. It’s a tribute to the playwright. “We are keeping it at a very quick pace because it’s important for the language,” says Anderson. The play is full of witty one-liners (and often two). Sometimes the lines seem “absolutely ridiculous,” notes Anderson. “We laugh every day in the rehearsal hall” to the point where sometimes “we can’t continue.” Case in point: Algernon says, “Oh! it is absurd to have a hard-and-fast rule about what one should read and what one shouldn't. More than half of modern culture depends on what one shouldn't read.” Then, “Never speak disrespectfully of Society, Algernon. Only people who can’t get into it do that.” Or “I am sick to death of cleverness. Everybody is clever nowadays.” Wilde’s lines have a “lot of heart and human joy” in addition to being amusing – and clever. “There’s a center to it that feels real,” says Anderson.

The cast includes Westport Country Playhouse veterans Kristen Hahn (Cecily), Anthony Michael Martinez (Algernon), Jan Neuberger (Miss Prism), and Mark Silence (Merriman, Lane), and Christine Pedi (Lady Bracknell), Michael Raver (John Worthing), Triney Sandoval (Rev. Canon Chasuble, D.D.), and Katy Tang (Gwendolyn).

The Importance of Being Earnest will be performed October 28th through November 15th. Showtimes are Tuesdays at 7:00 p.m., Wednesdays at 2:00 and 7:00 p.m., Thursdays at 7:00 p.m., Fridays at 8:00 p.m., Saturdays at 3:00 and 8 p.m., and Sunday at 3:00 p.m. through November 15. (There will be no Wednesday or Saturday matinees during preview week.)