Photos by Janice Peters
Give the fine folks at By the Sea Productions credit. When a challenge appears, they find a way to make it work. That’s one of the wonderful things about a community theatre: people work together, have a good time doing it, and don’t let obstacles become greater than they need to be.
For example, when an actor cast in a role must give it up for good cause, and a substitute proves elusive, you figure it out. In the case of The Importance of Being Earnest, now playing on the small stage in St. Peter’s Episcopal Church’s parish hall in Morro Bay through June 29, you go with what God (or the universe) gives you.
In this case, the gift has a name: Laurelle Barnett Kelty, who graciously stepped in to take on the role of the Rev. Chasuble. The case of an actor of one gender taking on a role of another gender isn’t all that unusual in the history of theatre, which from ancient times has embraced gender fluidity.
What’s interesting is that in modern times Oscar Wilde’s play has seen the switch more associated with the role of Lady Bracknell, with well-known actors like Geoffrey Rush and David Suchet taking on the grande dame’s mantle. And just as they made the role their own, so too does Kelty, with deep voice and elegant mannerisms expressing the rector’s unabashed enthusiasm in the pursuit of Miss Prism, here played by the eloquent Janice Lamont.
Both actors are in good vocal company, as the entire cast has embraced the play’s language, giving the audience a clear path to its rich and often subtle wordplay. Director Jean Miller has taken the subtitle of the play, “a trivial comedy for serious people,” to heart, keeping the satire and the action moving quickly through the production’s two-and-a-half-hours (with intermission). She has chosen to focus on Wilde’s witty words, blocking the actors’ movements only to re-balance the dynamics between characters.
And what characters they are. Jonah Duhe as Algernon, Topher Lyons as Jack, Wren Hall as Gwendolyn and Perri Gandy as Cecily are in turn silly, clever, confused, and altogether arrogant in their certainty, just as penned in Wilde’s hilarious script. A highlight is the scene between Hall and Gandy when they meet and move from immediate deep affection to equally deep hostility on discovering that they are both engaged to the same man.
Laura Richie as Lady Bracknell has her moments as well, declaring with dignity and utter seriousness such expressions as “To lose one parent, Mr. Worthing, may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness.”
Rounding out the cast is Landen Scott, who gamely takes on two roles, acting in both as manservants who must witness the silliness of his upper-class employers. He plays the straight man with a steady aplomb.
The set design, depicting a typical English turn-of-the-century drawing room and the interior and exterior of a country house, is appropriate and enhanced by Molly Cochran’s window painting. The scene changes are a bit long, but given the limitations of the stage area aren’t really a distraction. The costuming and hair by Melissa Karas give the proper feel of the time, adding to the overall ambiance.
This production of The Importance of Being Earnest honors Wilde’s material with a graceful charm and an overall cheerfulness that speaks to the spirit and tenacity of this community theatre family.