Word: moncrieff
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Despite its paper-thin plot, implausible coincidences, and unbelievable ending, The Importance of Being Earnest remains one of the most original and razor sharp plays ever written. Located firmly in the Victorian era, the story revolves around the caddish Algernon Moncrieff (Kent French) and his friend John Worthing (G. Zachariah White). As both men independently undertake a harmless deception, their "bunburying" turns into a major misunderstanding and leads to a first-rate satire of the English class structure. However, as valiantly as the performers try to do Wilde's words justice, the overall acting can often best be described...
...Incessantly silly plot revolves around friends Jack Worthing and Algernon Moncrieff. Jack is in love with Algernon's cousin Gwendolen; Algernon falls in love with Jack's ward Cecily. Throw in a case of mixed identity, a missing handbag, a formidable aunt and a bunch of cucumber sandwiches and that's basically the plot of possibly the most prefect comedy ever written...
...other hand, Mark Fish, playing Algernon Moncrieff, seemed completely at home. Although he could have tried for a little more eye contact with whomever he was talking to, and although his diction seemed a little muffled, these points did not disturb the audience's credulity...
Chris Scully's set design picked up on Wilde's deliberate symbolism. In Act III, the drawing room of the country house was a mirror image of Algernon Moncrieff's London flat in Act I. Whatever Wilde's personal opinion of country and city might have been (`...and never the twain shall meet,' perhaps?) Scully has added his own sardonic note...
...inevitable comparison of Fish's effortless Moncrieff and Javerbaum's mechanical Worthing throws a whole new light on this play's theme of being yourself and pretending to be other people...