The Importance of Being Earnest

Transcription

1 STUDY GUIDE The Importance of Being Earnest The Importance of Being Earnest. PHOTO BY CRAIG SCHWARTZ. By Oscar Wilde Directed by Michael Michetti Sept 21 Nov 22, 2014 California s Home for the Classics

2 The Importance of Being Earnest Study Guide Table of Contents 3 Characters 4 About the Play: Synopsis 6 Oscar Wilde: Biography 8 Oscar Wilde: Timeline 9 Earnest: Themes 11 About: Production Design 12 About: Set Design 13 Essay Topics & Activities 15 Resource Guide 16 About: Theatre Arts & Key Terms 17 About: A Noise Within The Importance of Being Earnest. PHOTO BY CRAIG SCHWARTZ. A NOISE WITHIN S EDUCATION PROGRAMS MADE POSSIBLE IN PART BY: The Ahmanson Foundation, Alliance for the Advancement of Arts & Education, The Capital Group Companies Charitable Foundation, Employees Community Fund of Boeing California, The Green Foundation, The Michael & Irene Ross Endowment Fund of the Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles, Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the Los Angeles County Arts Commission, National Endowment for the Arts: Shakespeare for a New Generation, The Kenneth T. & Eileen L. Norris Foundation, Pasadena Arts & Culture Commission and the City of Pasadena Cultural Affairs Division, The Ann Peppers Foundation, The Rose Hills Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, The Steinmetz Foundation, Wells Fargo Foundation 2 A Noise Within 2014/15 Repertory Season

3 CHARACTER MAP JOHN JACK WORTHING, J.P. A seemingly respectable gentleman who lives a double life. John goes by the nickname Jack in the country, where he lives responsibly as the head of his country estate. In London, he goes by Ernest, and lives as a libertine. In order to escape to the city more regularly, he has invented a wild brother named Ernest whom he must get out of trouble. ALGERNON MONCRIEFF A witty, idle bachelor. Best friend to John (whom he knows as Ernest), cousin to Gwendolen, and nephew to Lady Bracknell. He pretends to be John s brother, Ernest, in order to get closer to Cecily. GWENDOLEN FAIRFAX The sophisticated object of John s affections. She is in love with John, who she believes is named Ernest, and says she will not marry a man if he is not named Ernest. LADY BRACKNELL Algernon s domineering and wealthy Aunt and Gwendolen s mother. She is determined that her daughter marry well. CECILY CARDEW John s ward. She is the granddaughter of the man who found and adopted John. She is fascinated by the escapades of John s (fake) brother Ernest, and thereby is obsessed with the name. MISS PRISM Cecily s governess; puritanically praises John s (presumed) respectability and criticizes his (fake) brother Ernest. REV. CANON CHAUSUBLE, D.D. Minister of John s country estate. LANE Algernon s valet MERRIMAN The butler of John s country estate 3 A Noise Within 2014/15 Repertory Season

4 ABOUT THE PLAY: SYNOPSIS The Importance of Being Earnest. PHOTO BY CRAIG SCHWARTZ. ACT I Ernest Worthing arrives unannounced at his best friend Algernon Moncrieff s flat and states his intention to propose to Algernon s cousin, Gwendolen Fairfax. Algernon refuses to give Ernest permission to propose to Gwendolen until Ernest explains the inscription on his cigarette case: From little Cecily, with her fondest love to her dear Uncle Jack. Ernest then admits that he has been leading a double life; his real name is Jack (nicknamed: Jack) Worthing, and he lives a respectable life in the country with his ward, heiress Cecily Cardew. Jack escapes to the city by pretending to look after his (completely fictional) irresponsible, pleasure-seeking brother Ernest. Once in the city, Jack assumes the identity of the libertine Ernest. Algernon admits that he has also has an invented friend-the sickly Bunbury whom he visits when he wants to avoid undesirable social obligations. Gwendolen arrives at Algernon s flat along with her authoritarian mother, Lady Bracknell. Algernon distracts Lady Bracknell so Jack can propose to Gwendolen in another room. Gwendolen accepts Jack s proposal, but to Jack s dismay, she seems to be obsessed with marrying a man named Ernest. When it is clear that she would not marry a man with any other name, Jack decides to be rechristened Ernest. Upon hearing this news, Lady Bracknell interviews Jack to make sure he was an appropriate suitor for Gwendolen. After she discovers Jack does not know his biological parents because a man (his adoptive father) found Jack in a handbag in the cloakroom at Victoria Station, Lady Bracknell declares that Jack is forbidden from contacting Gwendolen ever again. Despite this, Gwendolen declares her undying love for Ernest. Algernon decides to pay Jack (or rather, Jack s beautiful, eighteen-year-old ward Cecily) a visit after he overhears Jack give Gwendolen the address of his country estate. ACT II Jack s plan to retire his fictitious brother Ernest by declaring his death is thwarted when Algernon arrives at Jack s estate pretending to be Ernest. Algernon charms Cecily, and soon finds himself falling in love with her. He proposes to her; she declares she feels like they are already engaged. Cecily then admits that she invented a romance between herself and Jack s brother months earlier after hearing all of Ernest s fascinating adventures. Part of her infatuation stems from the name Ernest, so Algernon decides to become rechristened Ernest. 4 A Noise Within 2014/15 Repertory Season

5 ABOUT THE PLAY: SYNOPSIS The Importance of Being Earnest. PHOTO BY CRAIG SCHWARTZ. Gwendolen arrives at Jack s estate unexpectedly, and is taken to the garden with Cecily for tea. Their polite conversation quickly disintegrates when they discover that both of them are engaged to Ernest. When Algernon and Jack arrive at the scene, the women unravel their suitor s lies. Upon the discovery that there never was an Ernest to begin with, Cecily and Gwendolen leave for the manor house. ACT III Cecily and Gwendolen confront Algernon and Jack about why they lied about being Ernest. While the men s replies help soften their lover s hearts, it is the declaration that Rev. Canon Chausuble is to rechristen both men Ernest that causes all to be forgiven. Then Lady Bracknell arrives. Lady Bracknell restates that she will never allow Jack to marry Gwendolen. After questioning Cecily about her background (and discovering the large sum of money she will inherit), Lady Bracknell approves of her engagement to Algernon. Jack then states that, as Cecily s guardian, he would not grant permission for her to marry Algernon unless Lady Bracknell consented to his marriage to Gwendolen. Just as Lady Bracknell is about to leave with Gwendolen in tow, she recognizes Cecily s governess, Miss Prism, as her sister s nursemaid, who had taken a baby boy for a walk in a baby carriage 28 years earlier and never returned. Miss Prism confesses that she accidentally put her manuscript in the baby carriage and the baby in her handbag, which she left at Victoria Station. Jack then finds the handbag he was discovered in as a baby, which turns out to be the exact handbag described by Miss Prism. Having learned that Jack is actually her nephew, Lady Bracknell approves of his marriage to Gwendolen who insists on discovering Jack s real first name. Lady Bracknell states that, as the first-born son, Jack was named after his father, General Moncrieff. Jack scours the army lists, and finds that his father s name was Ernest, and so Jack s name was actually Ernest all along. The couples embrace as Jack/Ernest declares he finally understands the vital importance of being earnest. 5 A Noise Within 2014/15 Repertory Season

6 OSCAR WILDE: BIOGRAPHY WILLIAM WILDE and Lady Jane Francesca Wilde, Oscar s parents, were Dublin celebrities. William Wilde was a prominent ear surgeon indeed he is often credited with asserting the branch of medicine as a science. He was also a talented conversationalist, and led a busy and active social life in the midst of Dublin s elite. Lady Wilde was a noteworthy agitator for Irish Independence (the Green Movement ), revolutionary poetess, critic, and early advocate of women s liberation. She was a genius (self-proclaimed, also however so testified by acquaintances) and a witty talker, and Oscar Wilde would assume most of her characteristics. On the sixteenth of October, 1854, Oscar Wilde was born into a most stimulating environment. The family, which included two year old brother Willie, lived on the North Side of Merrion Square the right part of the right neighborhood for members of those professions fit for gentlemen who aspired to the aristocracy. Oscar s mother held a weekly Salon in a candle-lit (on the sunniest of afternoons) front room, which attracted the best and brightest of Dublin s artists, writers, scientists, and miscellaneous intellectuals. At the youngest of ages, Oscar Wilde was encouraged by both parents to sit among their visitors and fetch books for his father or amuse adults with his stories. John Cooper s Oscar Wilde in America, The Victorian Web After nine years, Wilde was sent to the Portora Royal School, which offered an education steeped in the classics. The institution was a favorite of Irish professionals, and the degree to which it embodied the aspirations of the rising upper middle class is noted in the hope of its headmaster, William Steele, whose ambition it was to develop a school that would not only be the best in Ireland, but which could compete with the best schools in England. (Coakley, p.79) Wilde won a spot at Trinity College Dublin in 1871, and departed Portora Royal School with his name engraved in guilt letters on the honors board, and having easily won an important prize in Greek much to the surprise of all who had believed him to be brilliant but slothful. Wilde contributed to Trinity s Hellenistic journal and befriended John Pentland Mahaffy, Trinity College s leading Greek scholar, a source of his interest in the Greek ideal. Wilde won all sorts of prizes for his scholarship, most significantly the coveted Berkely Gold Medal. 6 A Noise Within 2014/15 Repertory Season

7 OSCAR WILDE: BIOGRAPHY Wilde matriculated in Magdalen College, Oxford on scholarship in At Oxford, Wilde was introduced to the joys of combining Mahaffy s Greek ideal with homosexuality the University s young men, according to several biographers, expressed delight in each other s beauty and brilliance, and Wilde later wrote of the pleasures of strolling through the grounds observing his pleasant peers. Just before he left Oxford, Wilde won the Newdigate Prize for a poem, Ravenna. Wilde endured some measure of emotional stress at this time, as his father died and left the family with little money and greater debts. To add to his problems, he had recently been disappointed in love by Florence Balcombe described by George du Maurier as one of the three most beautiful Victorian women when she broke off a loose affair without telling him and married Bram Stoker. Wilde was, however, to know great distress, and he indicated that he enjoyed the drama of his role as the jilted lover. In 1882 Wilde, again short of funds, embarked on a lecture tour of the United States. At each stop, he preached the Cult of the Artificial, which rejected the social conception of the natural. He spent the next couple of years in Britain and France, championing Art Nouveau The Aesthetic Movement s concept of art for art s sake movement before violating all of his bachelor s principles in an attempt to settle down and marry the attractive, love-struck, and moderately intelligent Constance Lloyd in May This period of short-lived domestication saw Wilde become editor for Woman s World magazine, and for most of the decade he was less productive creatively. By 1889 he was bored with the tame life, had let the editorship of Woman s World slip away along with the substance of his marriage, and was publishing provocative essays largely dealing with the selfexplanatory art for art s sake. His book, Intentions, contained essays called The Decay of Lying, The Critic as Artist, Pen, Pencil and Poison, and The Truth of Masks. They were written in the form of dialogues between a new Plato and his young disciples, an intellectual exercise that the author would soon begin to live out. The next five or seven years saw the height of his fame as he published and produced witty and scandalous plays like The Importance of Being Earnest, An Ideal Husband, Lady Windermere s Fan, and A Woman of No Importance. He also published what is arguably his best work but one that led his wife to complain that people would no longer talk to them after having read it The Picture of Dorian Gray. Unfortunately, popular acclaim made Wilde cocky, and he became increasingly overt about his interest in homosexuality and Platonism. He met the charming but temperamental Lord Alfred Douglas ( Bosie ), then an undergraduate at Oxford, and began a very close relationship with him. This continued for years, causing Wilde to neglect family and Douglas to forget his studies, until Bosie s father, Lord Queensberry, began to stalk and harass our hero in search of evidence with which he could persecute him. In 1895 Wilde sued him for libel after receiving an accusatory note, and Queensberry began to turn London inside out in a search for evidence to support his claim. A number of Wilde s passionate letters to Bosie were already circulating, and they were used with several of Wilde s own works and a list of male child prostitutes that he kept company with to convict the poet. Following this disaster, Wilde was convicted on sodomy charges with the same evidence. After the trial, he was given several opportunities to flee the country, but did not. He remained in prison until 1898, and the humiliation led him to produce De Profundis, which was an apologia in the form of a bitter letter to Bosie. He also drew from his experience to produce The Ballad of Reading Gaol and several articles against the poor conditions in British prisons, one of which contributed to the passing of a law to prevent the imprisonment of children. After Wilde s release he at last escaped to France, where he was rejected by most of the people with whom he had consorted and who had admired him in better days. Old mentors like Mahaffy, if asked about Wilde, would murmur the brutal sentence, We no longer speak of Wilde. Constance Wilde would send him an allowance, but would not see him (which he did not mind) or allow him to visit his children (which he did mind). A brief romantic reunion with Bosie cut off that little amount of income also, and Wilde waited three years to die. Death came in a lonely Paris hotel room to a man stripped of all arrogance and beauty a man not too unlike the withered cadaver that remains after the painting is violated in Dorian Gray. Author: William Terpening Edited from: The Picture of Oscar Wilde: A Brief Life, The Victorian Web: 7 A Noise Within 2014/15 Repertory Season

8 OSCAR WILDE: TIMELINE Oct 16, 1854 In Dublin, Sir William Wilde and Francesca Elgee Wilde give birth to a boy named Oscar Fingal O Flahertie Wills Wilde Wilde starts school at Portora Royal School Wilde attends Trinity College in Dublin Wilde earns a scholarship to attend Magdalen College, Oxford. Nov Wilde receives the Newdigate Prize from Oxford for Ravenna. He graduates with a bachelor s degree in classical moderations and classics Poems, Wilde s first book, is published. He is considered a leader of the London aesthetic movement Wilde goes on a year-long lecture tour in the United States. His first play, Vera, is produced in New York, but it is unsuccessful Wilde goes on a lecture tour in England. His second play, The Duchess of Padua, is also unpopular. May 29, 1884 Wilde gets married to Constance Lloyd, daughter of an English barrister. Jun. 5, 1885 Wilde s son Cyril is born. Nov. 3, 1886 Wilde s son Vyvyan is born The faltering Women s World hires Wilde as an editor to reinvigorate the magazine. Within 2 years he made the magazine successful by broadening their focus beyond women s apparel and into women s thoughts and feelings Wilde s book of fairy tales, The Happy Prince and Other Tales, is published. Jul A censored version of Wilde s The Picture of Dorian Gray is published as a serial story in Lippincott s Monthly Magazine. Apr Wilde revises and publishes The Picture of Dorian Gray as a novel Wilde meets Lord Alfred Bosie Douglas, son of the Marquess of Queensberry (founder of the rules for boxing) 1892 Wilde s play, Lady Winderman s Fan, is a success. His play, Salomé, is not produced because the law forbids portrayals of Biblical characters onstage. Apr Wilde s play A Woman of No Importance opens in London. It is a hit. Jan Wilde s play An Ideal Husband premieres at the Haymarket Theatre in London. Feb. 14, 1895 The Importance of Being Earnest opens at St. James s Theatre in London. Feb. 18, 1895 The Marquess of Queensberry leaves a visiting card at the Albermarle Club in London for Oscar Wilde, posing somdomite * [sic.] Wilde sues Queensberry for libel. *misspelled sodomite, which he was using to imply Wilde was homosexual Apr. 3, 1895 The trial between Queensberry and Wilde starts. Queensberry is acquitted and Wilde is arrested for gross indecency. Apr. 26, 1895 Wilde s trial for gross indecency begins. Constance Wilde takes their children to Europe where they change their last name. Lord Alfred Douglas moves to France. May 25, 1895 Wilde is declared guilty and is sentenced to 2 years hard labor A Production of Salomé is produced in Paris. Feb. 3, 1896 Wilde s mother dies. May 19, 1897 Wilde is released from jail. He moves to France. Apr. 7, 1898 After a spinal surgery, Constance dies in Italy at age 40. Nov. 30, 1900 Wilde dies of cerebral meningitis at age A Noise Within 2014/15 Repertory Season

9 THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST: THEMES Jack! Oh! by Colleen Coover DISHONESTY While the title The Importance of Being Earnest implies that honesty is important, most of the characters are perpetually dishonest. John and Algernon lie regularly in order to avoid social obligations and pursue pleasure. Over the course of the play, the characters create increasingly complicated lies in order to fill in the holes of their previous lies. At the end of the second act, however, their web of lies comes unwoven around them. Despite the ultimate failure of their deceit, neither man appears to regret his dishonesty. In the end, it is more important to be Ernest than earnest. QUESTION Are the women in the play as dishonest as the men? What do the women lie about and why? MARRIAGE The characters in The Importance of Being Earnest are divided on whether a person should marry because of duty or because of pleasure. The older generation thinks of marriage as a business transaction, through which a person upholds or improves their rank in society. Lady Bracknell s requirements for a son-in-law good family background, title, and lots of money are based on this philosophy. The younger generation, however, wants to marry for love regardless of social standing. Interestingly, at the end of the play, the young couples all marry people of acceptable rank and title in the name of love. QUESTION How do the men and women in the play view marriage differently? 9 A Noise Within 2014/15 Repertory Season

10 THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST: THEMES REPUTATION As was true in upper class Victorian society, the characters in The Importance of Being Earnest care about being respectable or rather, the appearance of being respectable. Men were expected to be from a good family, wealthy, and ethical. Women were expected to have all these qualities and also to be pure. Having a poor reputation perhaps due to being discovered in a handbag could make it incredibly difficult for an individual to marry well (or at all). QUESTION Miss Prism constantly admonishes John s brother Ernest because of his poor reputation. What does her past reveal about her attitudes on respectability? Is she respectable? SOCIAL CLASSES The differences between the upper and lower classes in Victorian society are highlighted in The Importance of Being Earnest. The members of the aristocracy take great pride in their position in society and give off airs of entitlement, despite the fact that they earned their money through birth rather than with work/talent. Throughout the course of the play, Wilde satirizes the hubris of the upper class. The lower class, however, are portrayed as unpretentious. Both are shown to be quick-witted. QUESTION Based on The Importance of Being Earnest, what does Wilde think of Victorian England s upper class? GENDER ROLES In Victorian England society, men held more power than women. The man s role was to be head of the household, control the family s money, and make all major political decisions. The woman s role was to care for the children and other domestic duties. Men were valued for being smart, whereas women were valued for being attractive and chaste. Wilde challenges these gender roles, however, by placing an unattractive woman Lady Bracknell as the most powerful person in the play. LOVE & ROMANCE Gwendolen and Cecily have a distorted sense of what love is. Romance novels and plenty of idle time allow the imaginations of these young women to run wild. When they meet real prospective love interests, they soon find that they do not live up to their fantasies. Wilde s definition of romance differs from both the fantasies of the young women in the play and modern American society s idea of love. Beauty is enough for the characters in The Importance of Being Earnest to start and maintain a happy relationship. None of the characters love is unconditional, but it is not deemed untrue because of this. QUESTION What is your definition of love? Based on your definition, are John and Gwendolyn in love? How about Algernon and Cecily? ABSURDITY & FOOLISHNESS The foolishness of the characters in The Importance of Being Earnest is the source of a large amount of the play s humor. Wilde has his characters treat things a person has no control over (such as getting lost as a baby) as if it was a choice, and twist aphorisms to change their meaning. Serious topics are paired with banal trivialities, making ordeals seem absurd. The dialogue is written in such a way that it can be difficult to tell if the characters are in on the joke or if they are being completely serious (while sounding ridiculous). QUESTION Which moment from the play struck you as the funniest? Why did you find it funny? Do you think the character(s) involved were in on the joke? QUESTION How do the characters in the play either challenge or fulfill Victorian gender roles? 10 A Noise Within 2014/15 Repertory Season

11 About: Production Design NIKE DOUKAS DIALECT COACH NIKE DOUKAS has appeared on stage at South Coast Repertory, Pittsburgh Irish and Classical Theatre, The Old Globe, The Mark Taper Forum, The American Conservatory Theatre, Berkeley Rep, A Contemporary Theatre, Shakespeare Festival LA, Shakespeare Santa Cruz, The Berkeley Shakespeare Festival,and more. She teaches scene study and Shakespeare at The Art Of Acting Studios, and has taught a variety of classes at A Noise Within. She has also coached accents for productions at The Pasadena Playhouse, La Mirada Theater, and many of the productions at A Noise Within, most recently The Beaux Stratagem, The Guardsman, Noises Off, A Christmas Carol, and The Grapes of Wrath. Additionally, she does private coaching for acting and accents. She has an MFA from the American Conservatory Theatre, and is a recipient of the 2012 Lunt Fontanne Acting Fellowship. The job of the accent coach is to provide a consistent, believable rendition of the accent or accents in each play. The accent doesn t have to be absolutely authentic, but it has to seem authentic, and it must be understandable. I tend to begin with a session where we agree on the ground rules for the accent. I usually teach the sound changes: what vowel and consonant sounds change, what the cadence and musicality is like, what special regional flavor might exist. We drill with sentence worksheets designed to pick up all these differences. Then we read through sections of the play to give everyone a chance to practice with the actual material. Each actor will face particular challenges, and I may make up special drills or worksheets for them. I will also suggest movies and online videos they can listen to so they can practice on their own. We usually will have some individual sessions as rehearsals progress and I will attend rehearsals and give notes. Once the play moves into the theater for technical rehearsals I am there to make sure the accent is getting across and clear, and that everyone sounds like they are in the same world. We will make some adjustments for the space and for clarity. I also listen during previews to make sure the actors are remaining diligent and that audiences are understanding. Accents can feel scary at first. With every nuance the actor must attend to, accents can feel intrusive. If we work correctly, actors should ultimately feel that the accent enhances and clarifies their roles. The goal is to become fluent and easy with the accent. Accents help create the world of the play. 11 A Noise Within 2014/15 Repertory Season

12 About: Set Design JEANINE RINGER For this production of earnest we wanted to utilize the idea of caricature in the lives of our characters. Our director, Michael, brought the idea to look at Victorian caricatures as a jumping off point for the direction of this show. I looked into them and loved the idea of a pen and paper drawing with lots of line texture throughout. I also really loved the idea of creating a black and white world based on the newspaper drawings of the period. The scenic elements quickly began to become a sort of living pop-up book by adding some slight dimension to the set along with lining it to help it look more 2 dimensional. As we move closer to the actors (who are obviously three dimensional) our props and furniture must also become three dimensional. In order to retain the idea of a drawn world lining and definition, shadows and highlights are being painted directly onto the furniture and props, helping to bridge the gap between a 2-d world and a 3-d one. The scenic elements and props are predominantly monochrome in black, white and grey like an old newspaper sketch. We ve played a great deal with scale and pops of specific color in each act in order to create a physical version of the caricatures that were the original inspiration. 12 A Noise Within 2014/15 Repertory Season

13 THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST: ESSAY TOPICS & ACTIVITIES Essay Topics 1. Do you believe it is more important to be honest or polite? Explain why. Would any of the characters in The Importance of Being Earnest agree with you? Why or why not? 2. Write about a time you were a bunburyist (made up something to get out of doing something you didn t want to do!) 3. The Importance of Being Earnest is a comedy of manners, meaning it is a comedy that satirizes the behavior and manners of a social class (or occasionally multiple classes). The Television series Arrested Development is an example of a modern comedy of manners. Compare and contrast the techniques Oscar Wilde and the creators of Arrested Development use to satirize the upper class of Victorian England and modern wealthy societies respectively. Status Quo Engage the student actors in a conversation regarding status. What does it mean in life (at school, at home or in the wider community)? What does it mean on stage (between characters or between actors and the audience). We discuss how status can affect the body language, the voice, the dialogue...the overall truthful portrayal of a character. Materials A deck of cards (in order Ace through King, you will only need one suit) 8-10 chairs double sided tape Space Required Medium to large open space Instructions 1. Split the class in half. One set of student actors becomes the audience and the other half sit in chairs that are set up in a line. The facilitator places a playing card on the forehead of each participant (with a small piece of double sided tape) without the participant seeing what card it is. 2. Instruct the actors that an Ace is the highest status in the room and TWO is the lowest. When the facilitator claps his/her hands, the actors are to mill around the room as if they are at a social engagement, meeting new people for the first time. They are to treat the other people at the party according to the status (card ranking) on their forehead. They are to quickly adapt their character by responding to the cues given to them by their fellow actors. 3. The first round is silent and entirely delivered through body language and facial expression. Freeze. 4. Clap again and the second round introduces improvised dialogue. Freeze. 5. The actors sit back down in their seats and are asked to sit from low to high status, having to guess what external status they have been given. One at a time actors remove their cards and discuss if their predictions were correct, how they guessed their status, how they were treated and how it felt. 6. Large class discussion and the groups switch. The entire activity is repeated for this new group. 7. Assessment in the form of reflection in class discussion. A Noise Within has developed these activities according to The Common Core State Standards for Language, Reading, Speaking, Listening and Writing at the 9 th grade level and the 21 st Century Learning and Thinking Skills. 13 A Noise Within 2014/15 Repertory Season

14 THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST: ESSAY TOPICS & ACTIVITIES Survey Says Have the students come up with questions relating to honesty/ dishonesty. For a simpler survey, have the questions have yes/ no answers. Examples: Is it acceptable to lie in order to protect a friend? Is it acceptable to lie to avoid getting a speeding ticket? Is it acceptable to tell a mother that you do not think her baby is cute? Is it acceptable to say that you have read and agree with the terms and conditions when you do not know what they are? Have the students pick their favorite questions and compile them into a survey. Each student should interview three people and bring back their results to class.* Compile the results and ask the following questions. Were any of the results surprising? Which one(s) and why? Do you agree with the results? Why or why not? Is lying ever the right thing to do? *Alternatively, you can create an online survey with the student s questions and have the students send the link to their friends and family Dear Diary In The Importance of Being Earnest, Cecily fills her diary with details of her fictional relationship with Earnest including mementos (multiple love letters and a ring). Have your students create a journal as one of the characters in the play. The students should not feel limited to write about the actual events that occur in the play, but rather should be encouraged to let their imagination run wild and create a fictional world or relationship in the same way Cecily does complete with mementos! Students can also show off their artistic talents by designing a cover that fits the character s personality. For a different version of this activity, have the students create a journal about their own fictional adventures (perhaps started by bunburying), complete with mementos. Two Truths and a Lie* Begin the activity by telling 2 truths and a (believable) lie about yourself to the class. Have the students guess which fact is a lie. Example: I have 3 dogs, I know how to surf, I won a poetry contest when I was in elementary school Allow the students a few moments to brainstorm 2 truths and a lie about themselves. Separate the class into groups of 4. The groups should be composed of students that do not know each other well. Each student tells their group their 2 truths and a lie; the other members of the group must figure out which fact is the lie. Next, have each group pick two of the truths from their group members and come up with a lie to write down and share with the class. They should start with the phrase One of our group members. After the game, ask the class the following questions: Were you able to guess the lie correctly? If so, how? What sort of lies were the most convincing? Big lies? Little lies? Why? Both John and Algernon lie (about being Ernest or by Bunburying ) throughout the play. Why do they lie? Do you (or people you know) lie for similar reasons? 14 A Noise Within 2014/15 Repertory Season

15 RESOURCES The Importance of Being Earnest. PHOTO BY CRAIG SCHWARTZ. ARTICLES Oscar Wilde s Great Farce the Importance of being Earnest by David Parker. Modern Language Quarterly June (2): ; doi: / Satiric Strategy in the Importance of Being Earnest by Otto Reinert College English Vol. 18, No. 1 (Oct., 1956), pp jstor.org/stable/ The Importance of Being Earnest: The Texture of Wilde s Irony by L. A. Poague. Modern Drama Vol. 16, No. 3-4 (Dec., 1973), pp ; doi: /md.16.3/4.251 BOOKS The Importance Of Being Earnest: A reader s companion by Peter Raby. Twayne Publishers, Revising Wilde: Society and Subversion in the Plays of Oscar Wilde. By Sos Eltis. Oxford: Clarendon, Oscar Wilde: Myths, Miracles, and Imitations by John Stokes. Cambridge University Press, 1996 The Thief of Reason: Oscar Wilde and Modern Ireland by Richard Pine. Saint Martin s Press, 1995 WEBSITES php FILM Importance of Being Earnest Dir. Anthony Asquitch. With Michael Redgrave, Michael Denison, and Edith Evans. British Film-Makers, 1952 Importance of Being Earnest Dir. Oliver Parker. With Rupert Everett, Colin Firth, Frances O Connor, Reese Witherspoon, and Judi Dench. Miramax Films, An Ideal Husband Dir. Oliver Parker. With Rupert Everett, Julianne Moore, and Peter Vaughan. Miramax Films, 1999 Oscar Wilde Dir. Brian Gilbert. With Jude Law, Vanessa Redgrave, and Stephen Fry A Noise Within 2014/15 Repertory Season

16 About: Theatre Arts KEY THEATRICAL TERMS Today, movies and television take audiences away from what was once the number one form of amusement: going to the theatre. But attending a live theatrical performance is still one of the most thrilling and active forms of entertainment. In a theatre, observers are catapulted into the action, especially at an intimate venue like A Noise Within, whose thrust stage reaches out into the audience and whose actors can see, hear, and feel the response of the crowd. Although playhouses in the past could sometimes be rowdy, participating in the performance by giving respect and attention to the actors is the most appropriate behavior at a theatrical performance today. Shouting out (or even whispering) can be heard throughout the auditorium, as can rustling paper or ringing phones. After A Noise Within s performance of The Importance of Being Earnest, you will have the opportunity to discuss the play s content and style with the performing artists and directors. You may wish to remind students to observe the performance carefully or to compile questions ahead of time so they are prepared to participate in the discussion. blocking: The instructions a director gives his actors that tell them how and where to move in relation to each other or to the set in a particular scene. character: The personality or part portrayed by an actor on stage. conflict: The opposition of people or forces which causes the play s rising action. dramatic irony: A dramatic technique used by a writer in which a character is unaware of something the audience knows. genre: Literally, kind or type. In literary terms, genre refers to the main types of literary form, principally comedy and tragedy. It can also refer to forms that are more specific to a given historical era, such as the revenge tragedy, or to more specific sub-genres of tragedy and comedy such as the comedy of manners, farce or social drama. motivation: The situation or mood which initiates an action. Actors often look for their motivation when they try to dissect how a character thinks or acts. props: Items carried on stage by an actor to represent objects mentioned in or implied by the script. Sometimes the props are actual, sometimes they are manufactured in the theatre shop. proscenium stage: There is usually a front curtain on a proscenium stage. The audience views the play from the front through a frame called the proscenium arch. In this scenario, all audience members have the same view of the actors. set: The physical world created on stage in which the action of the play takes place. setting: The environment in which a play takes place. It may include the historical period as well as the physical space. stage areas: The stage is divided into areas to help the director to note where action will take place. Upstage is the area furthest from the audience. Downstage is the area closest to the audience. Center stage defines the middle of the playing space. Stage left is the actor s left as he faces the audience. Stage right is the actor s right as he faces the audience. theme: The overarching message or main idea of a literary or dramatic work. A recurring idea in a play or story. thrust stage: A stage that juts out into the audience seating area so that patrons are seated on three sides. In this scenario, audience members see the play from varying viewpoints. A Noise Within features a thrust stage. 16 A Noise Within 2014/15 Repertory Season

17 About: A Noise Within A NOISE WITHIN S MISSION is to produce great works of world drama and to foster appreciation of history s greatest plays and playwrights through comprehensive educational programs. ANW is the only theatre in Southern California and one of only a handful in North America to exclusively produce year-round classical dramatic literature from master works by Euripides, Moliere and Shakespeare, to modern classics by Arthur Miller, Henrik Ibsen and Samuel Beckett in rotating repertory with a company of classically trained resident artists. The company was formed in All of A Noise Within s Resident Artists have been classically trained, and many hold Master of Fine Arts degrees from some of the nation s most respected institutions. In its 23 year history, A Noise Within has garnered over 500 awards and commendations, including the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle s revered Polly Warfield Award for Excellence and the coveted Margaret Hartford Award for Sustained Excellence. More than 33,000 individuals attend productions at A Noise Within annually. In addition, the theatre draws over 10,000 student participants to its arts education program, Classics Live! Students benefit from in-classroom workshops, conservatory training, subsidized tickets to matinee and evening performances, postperformance discussions with artists, and free standards-based Study Guides. Study Guides A Noise Within creates study guides in alignment with core reading, listening, speaking, and performing arts standards to help educators prepare their students for their visit to our theatre. Study guides are available at no extra cost to download through our website: org. The information and activities outlined in these guides are designed to work in compliance with the California VAPA standards, The Common Core, and 21st Century Learning Skills. Study guides include background information on the plays and playwrights, historical context, textual analysis, in-depth discussion of A Noise Within s artistic interpretation of the work, statements from directors and designers, as well as discussion points and suggested classroom activities. Guides from past seasons are also available to download from the website. A Noise Within s vision is to become a national leader in the production of classical theatre, creating an environment that continues to attract the finest classical theatre artists, educates, and inspires audiences of all ages, and trains the leading classical theatre artists of tomorrow. Study Guide Credits Alicia Green Education Director and Editor Craig Schwartz Production Photography Teresa English Graphic Design Allison Post Author Anna Rodil Administrative Assistant Johnathan Padron Education Intern California s Home for the Classics Geoff Elliott & Julia Rodriguez-Elliott, Producing Artistic Directors 3352 E. Foothill Blvd., Pasadena, CA Tel / Fax anoisewithin.org 17 A Noise Within 2014/15 Repertory Season