By Olivia Hernandez ‘26
The Importance of Being Earnest is a play that was written in 1895 by Oscar Wilde. The popular play is still widely performed today in English-language theaters and many other languages. The play revolves around two men, Jack Worthing and Algernon Moncrieff, who both pretend to hold the identity of a fictional man named Earnest. The charade unexpectedly leads both of these men to fall in love and encounter many problems along the way.
The two male leads become mixed up in personal relations with two women named Gwendolyn Fairfax and Cecily Cardew. Gwendolyn takes a liking to Jack, while Cecily falls for Algernon. Gwendolyn falls in love with the idea of a man named Earnest, who Jack is pretending to be, while Cecily falls for the notion of Earnest’s brother, not a man named Algernon. These men are very fake, yet very very real all at once.
As for Conestoga Valley’s adaptation of this story, the character choices were truly amazing on the director, Vincent Whitman’s, part. Philip Le was cast as Jack Worthing, paired with his love interest, Gwendolyn Fairfax, who was played by Hannah Gensel. Christian Nabor played Algernon Moncrief, with his love interest, Cecily Cardew, who was played by Logan Jack. The entire cast and crew did an amazing job of executing the play and making sure it got the proper showing it deserved.
Hannah Gensel, who played Gwendolyn Fairfax in the play, shared what she thought about the choice of fall play:“At first, I was a little skeptical because I had never heard of the play, but once you learn more about the story, it’s actually really entertaining and I thought it was a really good selection.”
Hannah shared that the cast and crew involved in the play were close with one another during rehearsals and the actual showings. “These past two years have been absolutely drama free and we’ve all been connected,” she said. “It’s like a big family and it’s the most love I’ve ever experienced in an extracurricular. It’s amazing.”
Hannah attempted to sum up the overall experience of the play in three words. “Definitely difficult because those lines were tricky,” she said. “It was really entertaining. The show was so much fun and really held my attention. It was such an amazing experience. I also want to say close-knit, even though that’s two words, because we were all really close to each other. It was truly great and we’re going to be great in the musical too.”
For the theater lovers at Conestoga Valley, The Importance of Being Earnest was truly more than just a play. It was an amazing experience filled with challenges, love, and quality adventures. The drama department at Conestoga Valley clearly has an overwhelming sense of community that these people found within their niches of theater love. This fun-filled play was definitely one to be remembered and appreciated, considering it truly teaches the importance of being earnest.
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