The All-Male Importance of Being Earnest

Adapted and directed by Hugh Hysell, The All-Male Importance of Being Earnest attempts to bring Oscar Wilde’s 19th-century comedy of manners kicking and screaming into the 21st century. The result is uneven.

The production is set in present-day New York — specifically, in Chelsea and the Hamptons. As the title indicates, Hysell has altered the genders of several of the characters, as well as making everyone in the script gay. However, this is a gay world without a straight referent; the characters talk blithely about engagements and weddings without ever mentioning the fraught political debate surrounding gay marriage. In fact, the only remotely political allusion in the play is a crack about New Jersey’s Governor McGreevey.

The plot revolves around Jack (Jerry Marsini), who has invented a brother named Ernest, whom he impersonates whenever he comes to the city. The reason for this elaborate ruse is that he wants to seem morally upstanding to his young ward, Kurt (Ricky Oliver), but still have fun when away from his home in the Hamptons. As Ernest, Jack has befriended Algernon (Joe LaRue) and fallen in love with Algernon’s cousin Gerald (Adam Beckworth). Gerald’s overprotective father, Mr. Bracknell (John Kudan), disapproves of the match. Before long, Algernon is off to the Hamptons disguised as Jack’s fictitious brother Ernest, where he falls in love with Kurt. From there on, mistaken identities and comical adventures abound.

Despite the obvious alterations, Hysell follows Wilde’s play closely. He’s even kept much of the playwright’s language, although he has made a few tweaks here and there, and has edited the script to the point where it is performed in an intermissionless hour and 20 minutes. These changes might work well if the production were not so heavy-handed; Hysell eschews subtext and goes for the obvious. For example, characters enter in various states of undress, leaving no question as to what has been going on offstage. Additionally, the actors have been directed to perform in an over-the-top style that not all of them can pull off.

Thankfully, Marsini is one of the more capable of the cast members; his spot-on characterization and superb comic timing are definite assets to the show. LaRue is also a pleasure to watch, even if at times he seems to be trying a little too hard to be funny. Beckworth has the same difficulty, only more so; still, he has great chemistry with Marsini, and their encounter in the first scene is hilariously farcical. Oliver exudes a winsome petulance that works well for the character of Kurt. As Jack’s beefy houseboy Merriman, Gary Hilborn underplays most of his lines and therefore comes across as much more grounded than many of the actors around him.

The uncredited set design is too shabby to properly reflect the prosperous abodes that the play calls for, but it is at least serviceable for this low-budget, Off-Off-Broadway show. The scene changes are handled smoothly, with campy bits of business and tunes like “Vacation” by the Go-Gos used to distract the audience while the furniture is shifted around.

The All-Male Importance of Being Earnest never quite transcends its gimmicky premise. Wilde’s play is a witty satire of the English upper classes, but Hysell’s version is more a celebration of gay male sexuality than an ironic take on issues of class and society. It lacks the subtlety necessary to make Wilde’s language sing, and what it adds in terms of visual humor isn’t enough to compensate. Still, the source material is strong, and there’s enough that works in the production to make it engaging.