Review of the Fall Play

The Importance of Being Earnest is a really interesting play overall. Not only because it's a comedy, but it's also a conversation-through play. For me, I enjoy this one a lot because personally, I am not Miss Prism at all, but in this play, I can act in unexpected characteristics. 

Jack Worthing is the inventor of a pretentious brother, “Ernest,” whose wicked ways afford Jack an excuse to leave his country home from time to time and travel to the city sometimes, where he stays with his close friend, Algernon Moncrieff. Algernon has a cousin, Gwendolen Fairfax, with whom Jack is deeply in love. During his London trip, under the name Ernest has won Gwendolen’s love, for she strongly desires to marry someone with the confidence-inspiring name of Ernest. But when he asks for Gwendolen’s hand from the formidable Lady Bracknell, Jack finds he must reveal he is a foundling who was left in a handbag at Victoria Station. This is very disturbing to Lady Bracknell, who insists that he produce at least one parent before she consents to the marriage. Returning to the country home where he lives with his ward Cecily Cardew and her governess Miss Prism, Jack finds that Algernon has also arrived under the identity of the nonexistent brother Ernest. Algernon falls madly in love with the beautiful Cecily, who has long been enamored of the mysterious, fascinating brother Ernest. However, Jack disapproves of this unexpected affection. With the arrival of Lady Bracknell and Gwendolen, chaos erupts. It is discovered that Miss Prism is the absent-minded nurse who twenty years ago misplaced the baby of Lady Bracknell’s brother in Victoria Station. Thus Jack, whose name is indeed Ernest, is Algernon’s elder brother, and the play ends with the three couples in happiness.

The lighting is pretty straightforward. When the house is in Algernon's. There is light over stage right. Yet, if it changes to Jack's house, the light will show in the stage left. This represents different places. Plus, in Act 1, the lighting is rather dimmer compare to act 2,3 because Act 1 happens indoor so that the lighting can be smaller. Also, the furniture in the two houses is totally different. In Algernon's house, the setup is all about fancy and splendid furniture, including those comfortable red chairs and a mirror. Yet, in scene 2, 3, and 4, because the scene takes place in Jack's house, the furniture is closer to the village style, with white chairs and table. This symbolizes the totally different style of these two houses. It then gives the audience a sense of variations. The sound is straightforward as well. There is no music in the acts, but there is some music during the transition. The music there gives the audience a message about that's the transition. Also, in the beginning, the importance of being earnest starts with Algernon playing the piano. As a result, this might give the audience a clue that it's time to relax. 

This play is really interesting because the theme is the importance of being not earnest. Although this play is called the Importance of Being Earnest. Being earnest means being honest. However, the characters in it are not honest at all. They either tell little lies or tell bigger lies to the people around them. Algernon and Jack pretend to be the person "Earnest", but they are not that person. Gwendolen and Cecily pretend to be innocence, naive and not understanding, yet they are much smarter than Algernon and Jack. Miss Prism pretends to be strict and righteous, thinking she is always right to some cases, yet she makes many mistakes. Dr. Chasuble pretends to be not knowing anything, yet he likes Miss Prism a lot. Lady Bracknell pretends not to care about social values, but she is the one who cares the most. In this play, everyone hides something from one another. Algernon and Jack hide their identity from Cecily and Gwendolen. Cecily and Gwendolen lie that they will never speak to Jack and Algernon again. However, one second later, they forgive their pretentions. Miss Prism hides the biggest secret for many years. There are a lot of contrasts in this play. For example, Algernon wears fancy cloth, in which it shows the personality of Algernon: wicked, bad, lavish young man. On the other hand, Jack has more formal cloth, showing the opposition personality: formal, well-presented, diligent. Cecily and Gwendolen wear similar dresses, so this presents similar personality of the two young ladies: intelligent, smart. However, Cecily has a wider open skirt, representing the countryside; Gwendolen has a tighter skirt, showing the city. For Miss Prism, this dress may represent her personality of a teacher. She is covering up her body completely, in which it shows her preciseness. Also, she wears glasses, giving the audience a sense of her old age. 

I enjoy playing the character of Miss Prism. It's a different person of myself. I taste something out from her. I found her character is really interesting. She always views things from her perspective. She is a really judgmental character in the importance of being earnest: she always criticizes other people from what they did. In Act 2, when Algernon pretends he is Jack's elder brother Earnest, Miss Prism announces her biased views on this unfortunate young man. "After we had all resigned to his loss, his sudden return seems to me peculiar distressing." From this sentence, we can see what is her opinion about Earnest. As a result, she wants everyone to listen to her opinion so that she has more value and proving that she is the right person to trust. That's the reason why Miss Prism always conveys Cecily not to fall in love with Algernon. In my acting, I always say it in an agitated voice to show my eagerness to the judgmental personality. Also, because Dr.Chasuble is a more soft and lowered voice person, I need to higher up my voice to show the contrasts. Nevertheless, Miss Prism's love for Dr.Chasuble is unchangeable. She acts differently when she is with Cecily and with Dr.Casuable. She values him as the closest person to her, and she likes him a lot. As a result, when Dr.Chasuble corrects Miss Prism's view on Earnest, Miss Prism always listens to him. When I act that part, I always make a statement with my chest forward and stand straight to show my righteous personality. However, when Dr.Chasuble corrects me, I lowered my head to show the obedience to him. 
My inspiration for acting Miss Prism is from my mother. Miss Prism believes that she is the most righteous person ever. And I think my mother believes so. When I read the script, I think of my mother as Miss Prism. Sometimes, me and my mother are not on the same page. Talking to her is kind of difficult for me, and I utilize her personality of compelling what I don't want to do in a commanding voice. When I don't want to read books, she always forces me to do so. As a result, I found some connections between she and Miss Prism. Hahh. And that's why I act like a strictness person to Cecily. 

I still think I screw up the first show because I speak so fast; the audience might not listen to me well enough. I didn't perform it well with my full preparation and my performance. I also forgot my lines in Act 4 sometimes. However, with my experience in the importance of being earnest, I think I am going to improve my acting. I will obviously continue to perform drama in the future.