The Importance Of Being Silly

Click 4 Tix!

atest press release from Square One Theatre Group, issued last week, but then, you know, that GG doorbell never stops ringing…

Square One Theatre Group will be staging a production of Oscar Wilde’s classic satirical comedy The Importance of Being Earnest at The Mermaid Theatre Bray from April 18th to the 22nd, directed by Máire Iremonger and Jackie Cullen.

First performed on February 14th, 1895 at the St James’s Theatre in London, it is a farcical comedy in which the protagonists maintain fictitious personae to escape burdensome social obligations.

So, a bit like social media then.

Working within the social conventions of late Victorian London, the play’s major themes are the triviality with which it treats institutions as serious as marriage and the resulting satire of Victorian ways.

At the time when Wilde wrote the play, ‘earnestness’ was being preached from the pulpits as a virtuous way to live, masking the double-lives led by so many members of the clergy and the aristocracy.

The play features Wilde’s wonderfully witty dialogue as well as poking serious fun at the hypocrisies of the time.

“The truth is rarely pure and never simple.”

“I never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read in the train.”

“To lose one parent, Mr. Worthing, may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness.”

“I never change, except in my affections.”

Square One Theatre Group has been performing two plays every year for over 40 years, and draws upon talent from around Bray, Greystones and beyond. Directors Máire and Jackie have been involved in acting and producing with the group for many years, and two of the cast (Maeve Miller and Marie McCourt) performed the play in different roles 30 years ago.

Tickets for the show are available right about here, and you can find out more about Square One Theatre Group on Instagram here and Facebook here.