"Well, one must be serious about something, if one wants to have any amusement

in life. What on earth you are serious about I haven’t got the remotest idea.”

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Life in Victorian England’s high society happens to be excessively boring. So boring in fact that between the dinner parties, the tea parties and the garden parties, Jack “Ernest” Worthing, an upstanding and infinitely dreary gentleman who wishes to marry the equally upstanding miss Gwendolen Fairfax— despite her mother Lady Bracknell’s best efforts— has a secret. He has invented a hotheaded brother, by the name of “Ernest”, who ever so frequently gets into dreadful scrapes. Loving and caring brother that he is, Jack has to rush to central London so that he may bail out his poor invalid sibling. But Jack’s “Ernest” is nothing but a front which allows Mr. Worthing to hop on to the next train to the city so that he may live out the pleasures of London.

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But little does Mr. Worthing know that his best friend, young Mr. Algernon “Algy” Moncrieff, also shares the same hobby. Algy also has invented himself a friend who goes by the name of “Bunbury”. “Bunbury”, of course, does not exist, but always gets frequently sick enough for Algy to hop on the next train for the country to go and visit him. And it is in those kindly escapades of charity, that playboy Algernon enjoys all kinds of improper acts of indulgence and debauchery. The adventures of the two friends had remained separate until Algernon catches wind of Jack’s second secret: his precious ward, miss Cecily Cardew who lives at her guardian’s country estate— a fair princess locked away in a high tower, eagerly awaiting a knight in shining armor to come rescue her from crushing boredom.

About the play:

“The Importance of Being Ernest” is considered one of Oscar Wilde’s most successful plays. Written and produced at the height of his fame, the play is categorized as a farcical comedy, a parody of Victorian high society aimed at exploring the triviality and cynicism of the aristocracy through a series of mishaps,

misunderstandings and misadventures which expose the absolute trivial nature of

the characters and by extension the social stratum with which Oscar Wilde was all

too familiar with. Even though many scholars have criticized the play for its lack of meaningful social commentary and for falling victim to the triviality which it is supposed to be commenting on, the play’s enduring features remain its layered and

witty dialogue, characteristics which have elevated it to the very best works of Oscar Wilde and English playwriting of the late 1800’s.

About us:

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2024 marks the 10th year of the English Department’s drama club in the National

Kapodistrian University of Athens. With this in mind, we chose the “The Importance of Being Ernest” out of a very diverse pool of classics as a staple in 19th century English comedy for the stage. Our group consisting of twelve members worked tirelessly over a seven month period, with all members sharing the load of the work ranging from directing to venue planning and costume design. Overall our approach to the play was to deliver a performance that adequately captured the essence of the comedy and its themes while maintaining an stress-free environment that made us look forward to every rehearsal.