I had the pleasure of seeing NCC’s very own production of The Importance of Being Earnest. I first encountered this text in high school and wasn’t a big fan. So I went in not knowing what to expect, which made this experience all the better.
A brief summary
For those who don’t know, The Importance of Being Earnest is a book by Oscar Wilde about two men pretending to be named Earnest to impress the women they love. Women who have a strange fixation on the name Earnest. To each their own, I guess?
Our mesmerizing cast and their captive audience
The cast’s outfits were phenomenal, and those lucky enough to see it know what I mean. I don’t know how many of you wear heels regularly, but I don’t, so seeing almost the entire cast in heels left me stunned. Especially Daniel Ornelas in stilettos as Lady Bracknell. Everyone’s makeup was beautiful, and Marina “Jo” Jòkanović wore a very believe mustache and goatee. Not sure about you, but I was a big fan of the sock puppet.
Each cast member also knew how to make an entrance. Lighting and music only amplify their stage presence. They lip-synced and danced along to pop songs, with humor and just on the seductive side. The audience, myself included, was also applauding, hyping them up and keeping the energy high as they made their grand appearances on stage.
Representation and modern interpretation
Having explained all that, let’s get to the meat of it: Oscar Wilde was gay at a time when it wasn’t okay to be. He faced jail time for it. While The Importance of Being Earnest has been done before, I have never seen it done in a way that bends gender. Male actors were in heels and makeup. A woman was in a three-piece suit. There were same-sex kisses. I was on cloud nine. The movie adaptations could learn something from our theatre department if they want to be less heteronormative.
Since Wilde wrote The Importance of Being Earnest, the world has changed in many ways. But it hasn’t changed enough. Different sexual orientations, gender identities, and the fluidity of both are still tragically scarce in mainstream media. If we cannot get the amount of diversity we deserve in movie theaters and TV shows, then we should get to see it on our campus. On Saturday night, I did.
I won’t claim to know what Wilde would think about NCC’s version of his work, but I will say that he would be proud to see the show our very own put on and how seamlessly they interacted on stage. I know more people than just me are grateful for tradition being turned on its head, so for all of us, I say thank you.
