The Importance of Being Earnest

Oscar Wilde’s classic comedy of identity fraud, The Importance of Being Earnest, receives a riotous new treatment from Ridiculusmus, the comedy duo who play all the parts — from Earnest to Lady Bracknell — themselves, just the two of them. This virtuosic interpretation of Wilde’s irrepressible caper has been received with wild acclaim around the world.

Jack and Algernon, two wealthy young Englishmen, shirk responsibility whenever possible. Algernon avoids obligations by fleeing to the country; Jack evades responsibility by escaping to the city. Cecily, Jack’s ward in the country, believes that Jack is looking after his younger, profligate (and fabricated) brother Ernest — the name he uses while in London. Jack wishes to marry Gwendolen, Algernon’s cousin, but is dismayed to learn that she could only love a man named Ernest. Additionally, Lady Bracknell, Gwendolen’s mother, refuses to give her consent when she learns that Jack is an orphan.

Algernon, intrigued by Cecily, travels to the countryside pretending to be “Ernest,” Jack’s wastrel of a brother. Cecily is delighted to meet the man she has only heard about for years. When Jack returns to the country estate, however, to announce that his brother has tragically died, chaos ensues. As Cecily and Gwendolen discover they are both engaged to “Ernest,” the characters become entangled in a series of uproarious mistaken identities.