Waldon Arts Center opens again with Oscar Wilde's 'The Importance of Being Earnest'
When a gracious and open-minded Bloomington woman receives notice she's been selected to play the queen of snobs, her task begins. One thing she does is peruse her playwright husband's extensive library of everything play-worthy. So, Oscar Wilde's Lady Bracknell is taking form, for an Oct. 13 opening of "The Importance of Being Earnest" at the Waldron Arts Center Auditorium.
Actress Mary Carol Reardon is taking on this consequential role — the play is largely about her character, Lady Bracknell — and has been learning to get her "mouth around Wilde's language," she said over the phone. Also of note is that this will be the first performance in the Waldron sponsored by Constellation Stage & Screen.
Wilde uses satire — this play is funny — to zing his point into our minds: Bracknell resides inside entitlement and privilege and she's damned well going to stay there. Birth and society have provided her an alter. Looking down on others is almost a hobby.
For one thing, "You must make sure you have the upper class accents," Reardon said. The cast is working with a dialect coach, Jenny McKnight (professor of practice in acting and directing) to ensure these Brits sound jolly good.
Bracknell guides the plot using her patterns of speech and body language, both profoundly premeditated, by Bracknell. A social climber that could scale Mount Everest, Bracknell whirls around the other characters with her fast wit and retorts.
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"To speak frankly, I am not in favour of long engagements. They give people the opportunity of finding out each other’s character before marriage, which I think is never advisable.
"I don't want to make (Lady Bracknell) a caricature, a cartoon character," Reardon said. "It's important to understand her values."
And Wilde makes Bracknell's values as clear as the servant-washed windshield of a Rolls-Royce.
To cast Lady Augusta Bracknell well — thank you, Kate Galvin, artistic director, Constellation Stage & Screen — is to be on target for a good production of "The Importance of Being Earnest," Wilde's three-act satirical play about the hypocrisy of Victorian society. It's recognized as Wilde’s highest dramatic accomplishment.
"Lady Bracknell believes that the lower classes should stay low," Reardon said. "That's just how she's made."
But the play is a comedy, so Bracknell's prejudices need to be defeated. As a representative of Victorian earnestness, she is the epitome of haughty hard-heartedness. Her conservativeness and image consciousness suggests Wilde's view of Victorian hifalutin, repressive power. The kicker is that Bracknell has a secret, which we learn by the play's finale. At last, Wilde allows us a glimpse of Bracknell's motivators.
Reardon drew upon a memory of something Bracknell-like in Reardon's life as an actress in New York City, where she was a member of both the stage actors' and the screen actors' unions.
"I was entering (the upscale department store) Barney's one day with a British friend. The doorman opened the door for us and I said, 'Thank you.'" Later that day, Reardon's friend asked why Reardon would thank a doorman, and Reardon told her it was because he had helped them. "But it's his job," the friend said, mildly scolding.
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Reardon is working on having empathy for her Bracknell. "(Bracknell's) beliefs are being shattered. She's trying to save a loved one (Bracknell's daughter) from a catastrophe (a marriage with a lower class man). She wants what's best for her daughter — and herself."
"It's a social commentary on lack of equality among the social classes. You've got to look at where Lady Bracknell is coming from. She's a survivor, certainly."
Reardon, too, is a survivor. Having majored in theater at Indiana University and enjoying a career in New York, she is continuing to find meaningful roles.
"Every time you're in a play, you are part of the ensemble. This cast is inspiring, and Kate is a tremendously creative director. It's a joy to discover the play with everyone together."
If you go
WHAT: Oscar Wilde's "Importance of Being Earnest," Constellation Stage & Screen's first production at the Waldron Auditorium. For ages 13-plus.
WHEN: Oct. 13-30. For details visit https://seeconstellation.org/mainstage/earnest/. (For pay-what-you-will Thursdays, see Note, below)
WHERE: Waldron Auditorium, Waldron Arts Center, 122 S. Walnut St.
TICKETS: Prices vary; go to https://bit.ly/3M0vMcO.
Note: "Pay What You Will Thursdays" for one of the Thursday performances allows you to choose a ticket price (from $5-$75). Once you select your seats, you’ll receive a prompt to choose a price.