Following the Oscar Wilde play The Importance of Being Earnest, we expect to witness the famous tale of Jack and Algernon, who lead double lives under the name of “Earnest”. However, what happens when the main male performer doesn’t show up, and audience members fill in as replacements?
As you enter the big Udderbelly venue, the show’s crew member, Josh (Ben Mann), hands out programmes that denote The Importance of Being Earnest cast on one side, and Say It Again Sorry’s Production of …Earnest? cast on the other. It is evident from the programme itself that this play-within-a-play will be a popular audience hit, with seats being filled to the point of a full-house, and audiences doubling down in laughter as soon as the show begins!
In a similar tone to The Play That Goes Wrong and Austentatious, …Earnest? exhibits the show’s director, Simon Slough (played by Josh Haberfield), coming to terms that the original play may have to wait another day as the lead actor, George (Brendan Barclay), fails to show up on time for his dramatic entrance. To save the play, they decide to bring on audience members to fulfil the roles of different characters — as actors drop out one-by-one due to a variety of mishaps throughout the show (which I shall not spoil in this article). In the meantime, Director Slough tries to distract audiences in between the three acts through the perfect timing of crowd work, like singing ‘Happy Birthday’ to celebrate the 130th anniversary of Wilde’s play, casting audience members through their performances of Shrek, and behind-the-scenes events like the actress of Cecily supposedly leaving for a better opportunity: “Harry Potter on Ice” (in other words, “The Prisoner of Icekaban”).
The cast manifests a great balance of phenomenal acting for the lines in The Importance of Being Earnest, and also the acting for …Earnest? ; This was so realistic, it was hard to tell that what they were portraying in their characters was acting (!). I need to point out the amazing stage presence achieved by the …Earnest? cast, with characters including Jennifer (Trynity Silk), Graham (Rhys Tees), Terry (Ashley Cavender), and especially, Eleanor (Judith Amsenga), who all had the hysterical audience in the palm of their hands. To assist the smooth running of their show, the set was phenomenal in its warm, homely hues, and professional design, alongside the lighting, which flicked between moments of seriousness and comedy perfectly. It would be a mistake not to mention the flamboyant costumes, which were also used as impressive quick changes of Tees’ Reverend Chasuble character to Miss Prism.
I had initially seen trending TikTok clips of …Earnest? before watching the show, so heading into this Fringe performance, I thought I had a certain amount of knowledge of what was to come. But boy, was I proved wrong! The director is right in saying that every performance of their show is different, as I had the privilege of watching this show twice. Although some twists and turns that approached were seemingly obvious, the improvisation of the hand-selected audience members on stage consistently altered the script in their own unique way, forming the most comedic thing I have ever seen.
On a final note, make sure to always remember the guidance of veteran actress Eleanor, in her three words of advice to acting: “Coffee, cigarettes, and whisky!”
Image by Mark Senior, provided to The Student as press.
