Picture a satire of Victorian society in the 1800’s–this was the premise of this year’s winter play: The Importance of Being Earnest.

This past weekend our school’s actors, director, and tech crew put together a show that sold out two out of the three nights in the Little Theater. 

Two characters take on the identity of a man named Earnest in order to escape certain social duties and  impress women, only to discover that being “Earnest” is essential for finding love and discovering one’s true identity.  

The director of the play was one of the English teachers: Mrs. Dreiling. 

Many of the cast members explained that they loved being part of this play and enjoyed putting the process leading up to the opening of the curtains. 

Junior Nico Caputo, who played Merriman, felt that this play allowed him to step out of his comfort zone while unlocking a new love for acting and the process that comes with it. 

“We spent many weeks bringing the story to life and building the characters,” said Caputo. 

The play, taking place in the 1800’s and a Victorian society allowed for the cast to be creative and try new things. This included getting to wear fun costumes,  being able to learn about history, and trying to effectively execute London accents.

Some of the accents included: British RP, and Cockeney. The cast was given a vocal coach to help perfect the accents, and a few of the actors emphasized the challenge in perfecting their on-stage voices. 

“This is the first show I’ve done where I got to learn and perform with an accent, and I had a lot of fun. I was the only one in the cast who had a cockney accent, so it was cool learning something new,” said Caputo. 

When the actors were performing it seemed like it was their second nature, but it was all the preparation that helped execute just that. 

“This play was so fun to put together, but it also took a lot of work,” said Dreiling. 

Oscar Wilde is the author of this play, and it was initially performed in 1895, so it takes a lot to understand the dialect of that era. 

“Oscar Wilde is such a sharp, brilliant writer, but we had to work to understand all the humor, and the time period. Because this play is set during the Victorian era, there were so many etiquette rules we also had to learn,” said Dreiling.

Acting requires so much more than just memorizing the lines; it requires a whole crew to put everything together, and no detail can be overlooked. 

“We covered everything from how women used their fans to how people greeted each other to how they sat down on furniture,” said Dreling. 

Junior Brady Stadolnik, who played Dr. Chasuble in the play, said that “this production gave him so much more than he expected.” 

Along with the fun of acting in the show itself, much of the cast enjoyed other aspects including cheering on each other, and spending time with the cast. 

“With this show, more than any other, anytime people were not on stage they were watching and laughing from the wings. Which is a testament to how involved and collaborative Mrs. Dreiling got this production to be,” said Stadolnik. 

In the words of Mrs. Dreiling: “Don’t miss out on the next LFHS Theater production: The Drowsy Chaperone, April 16-18.”