Literary criticism should be left to the people who have not been to University. They do it so well in the daily papers".

I feel that Oscar Wilde meant something personal by not only the above but by the whole assemblage of annotations included in The Importance of Being Earnest. In his inimitable writing style Wilde satirizes the life and period of the English aristocracy in the late 1800's. His principle characters are often arrogant, overly proper, formal and typically embody what we now regard as the ruling class of that era.

The foremost subject matter of the piece is the institution of marriage. A topic that Wilde pokes fun at quite purposely in showing us that the aristocracy used marriage as a method of achieving and sustaining social order, rather than a demonstration of love. To Wilde the institution of marriage was shrouded by hypocrisy and absurdity.

Whilst I felt that this piece could easily be set in the modern day I chose to keep it in the period in which it was written. I feel that the flamboyance of the age can be better displayed with the ostentatious mannerisms, outlook, and fashion that were synonymous with the late 1800's.

As my directorial debut The Importance of Being Earnest has been a pleasure to work on. As the actors have developed their characters, the story has unfolded into something above and beyond the play I initially read. The delicacy and intelligence of the words can be appreciated fully when accompanied by the skill and expression of the cast. From the outset this production has very much been a team effort between the cast and crew whom I would like to thank for bringing this play to life. I believe and hope we have made this production in the way which Oscar himself intended, and would like to thank him for giving us such a beautiful piece of writing to work with.

When Wilde was asked, "What sort of play are we to expect?" He replied, "It is exquisitely trivial, a delicate bubble of fancy, and it has its philosophy".

I hope you enjoy it

Steve O'Toole