“The suspense is terrible–I hope it will last!” exclaims Gwendolen in Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest. The delights of romantic uncertainty in this comedy of manners are a pleasure to behold, and students in BMCC’s Theatre Program play them out with a flourish. Presented by the BMCC Office of Academic Affairs, The Speech Communication and Theatre Arts Department, and the Tribeca Performing Arts Center, the opening performance will be on Wednesday, March 29 at 2pm.
One of the great plays in the English language, The Importance of Being Earnest contains some of Wilde’s wittiest observations about marriage, romance, aging and nearly every other subject. The play’s upper class Victorians may seem frivolously far from the concerns of today, but the director, Diane Dowling, BMCC professor and coordinator of the Theatre Program, thinks the audience won’t find it hard to relate. “We all have the impulse to experiment with our identities and imagine ourselves into a wonderful future. That’s why people go to college, to make that future a reality. The characters in this play just happen to be more outrageous and romantic in their attempts than we might be.”
The cast members, reflecting the diversity of BMCC, hail from Dominican Republic, Trinidad, Kentucky, Oklahoma, El Salvador and England, as well as the Lower East Side, Brooklyn and the Bronx. The visual artists Marguerite Van Cook (Lady Bracknell) and James Romberger (Dr. Chasuble), currently enrolled at BMCC, are gaining insights for their experimental film work by appearing in this most traditional of plays. The professional set, lighting and sound design faculty are creating, with BMCC student crew, a Victorian parlor and English country garden. Combine that with the energy of the cast and the witticisms of Oscar Wilde, and the experience promises to be a rewarding one.
The Importance of Being Earnest will be performed at Theatre I in the BMCC Tribeca Performing Arts Center. Performances are Wednesday, March 29 at 2 and 6pm, and Thursday and Friday March 30 and 31 at 7pm. Admission is free.
