Rice University Will Presents Streaming Production of THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST

Rice University Theatre will present Oscar Wilde's Victorian satirical comedy of manners, "The Importance of Being Earnest." The production will be broadcast via livestream on October 9 at 8:00 p.m. to the University's YouTube channel. The one-night performance will be filmed live from the stage of Hamman Hall, and has been directed with the actors in masks and with physical distancing.

"Earnest" follows the story of two bachelors, John 'Jack' Worthing and Algernon 'Algy' Moncrieff, who create alter egos named Ernest to escape their tiresome lives. They attempt to win the hearts of two women who, conveniently, claim to only love men called Ernest. The pair struggle to keep up with their own stories and become tangled in a tale of deception, disguise and misadventure.

The production will be directed by Christina Keefe, head of the Rice Theatre Program, assisted by Visual and Dramatic Arts alumnae, Alan Kim. Keefe's recent directing credits include Rice's productions of "As You Like It" and "She Kills Monsters." Kim graduated from Rice in 2019 with a degree in Visual and Dramatic Arts and English. He has recently appeared as a supernumerary in Houston Grand Opera's "Rigoletto" and "Aida" and as Robert in Soo-Jin Lee's "Peaches" for Mildred's Umbrella Theatre Company's Femfest: Voices of Asia. Notable roles at Rice include Picasso in "Picasso at the Lapin Agile, "and Brutus in "Julius Caesar."

Mark Krouskop, lecture and production manager for the Rice Theatre Program, will be the set designer for "The Importance of Being Earnest." Krouskop designed the outdoor set for Rice's production of "A Midsummer Night's Dream," and the raining elevator for "Eurydice." The costume design is by Heather Breikjern, lecturer and costume shop manager, who recently designed the Elizabethan world of "As You Like It."