The Importance of Being Earnest, directed by Mark Mineart: an Esoc Theatre and FEST production - review from echo-online.de translated into English

I had the pleasure of watching what I find is probably one of the best plays that have ever been written on the  stage of the International Theatre Frankfurt last weekend, and I must say it exceeded my expectations! 'The Importance of Being Earnest', directed by Mark Mineart, is now being performed in Darmstadt and Wiesbaden as well and I strongly recommend it to anyone who can still get tickets! 

There has been a review of one of the Darmstadt shows on echo-online.de which I felt obliged to translate into English and post here so that a wider range of people can find out about the show as it is itself performed in the one language every Oscar Wilde play should be performed in due to the remarkable beauty of its language: English.

taken from Echo online, 12th February 2011   

translated into English by me

Attitude, or countenance, is the main thing

Comedy: two theatre groups perform Oscar Wilde’s ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ at Hoffart in Darmstadt.

Witty hedonists: Mike Marklove (left) as Jack Worthing, Harald Schoppe as Algernon Moncrieff. 

Picture taken by Günther Jockel

Dates

The performance this Saturday (12^th) at the Hoffart-Theater is already sold out. The play will be performed coming Friday and Saturday (Feb 18 and 19) at the Amelia Earhart Playhouse Wiesbaden, Konrad-Adenauer-Ring 39, though. Performance times are 7:30 p.m.on both days; the box office can be reached under 0611 8162473. The next production of the Esoc Theatre Group will be shown at the Hoffart-Theater in May: ‘Die Physiker’ by Friedrich Dürrenmatt.

Being an Irishman, Oscar Wilde observed England from an Irish perspective in ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’, a British member of the audience explains in bright English accent during one of the intervals of Thursday’s sold out performance at the Hoffart-Theater. The Esoc Theatre Group and the Frankfurt English Speaking Theatre are performing what is probably Wilde’s most known comedy as a co-production in English language. And even as the audience member’s statement might sound a bit contemptible she cannot help smiling to herself about all the moments in which Wilde holds the mirror up to the English society of the Victorian Age. For the German member of the audience, these moments seem to confirm flawless clichés, for example when the butler Lane’s first action on stage consists of pushing the silver tea set into the correct position in an almost affectionate manner. Lane himself seems to be a blueprint of the British servant: displaying a deadpan expression, a humble attitude, and entirely under control. He is sure to get loud laughter. His employer, Algernon Moncrieff (Harald Schoppe) is a man-about-town. In order to flee the burden of being a gentleman he has invented the ailing Bunbury as his alter ego. His pal Jack Worthing (Mike Marklove) has created a second existence for himself as well in order to turn his back on country life: in town he visits his brother Earnest who he impersonates there. When Algernon visits the country one day to play a joke on Jack the roleplay is discovered.

Directed by Mark Mineart, the ensemble succeeds very well in portraying the often satirically trenchant behaviour and character patterns of the English society on the threshold to the 20^th century.  The actors relish in their characters’ shallow conversation and accompany their cup of tea with faces grinning like a Cheshire Cat. And when everyone’s true colours are shown it is vital to keep countenance and drink tea – even though it has been drowned in sugar.

A real stunner is the performance of Bobbie Lording-Pfanner as Lady Augusta Bracknell. A British Grand Dame, she radiates a wonderfully accentuated aristocratic arrogance. When talking she cranes upwards with rapt attention and follows her words narcissistically. In that moment, every single muscle in her face seems to be active: her lips form a smugly curve, her eyebrows are pulled upwards. Even Joan Collins as Denver-minx Alexis couldn’t be any more arrogant and trenchant even though her acting (Joan Collins’s; note by translator) was a lot worse.

The only member of the Esoc-Theatre in the ensemble is Melanie Zander as Miss Prism. She wears an elegantly flowing robe with implied corsage, as do all other actresses. A gentle and subtle head of the household, she stays inconspicuous at first but keeps a secret about Algernon and Jack, the disclosure of which will cause amazement.

alan ayckbourn about writing and directing for the stage, and michael caine about acting for film

for those of you who are interested in theatre, writing, acting or the art of directing, i have two book recommendations to share with you. the first one is the book 'The Crafty Art of Playmaking', or the german translation 'Theaterhandwerk', written by alan ayckbourn, the famous british contemporary playwright, director and theatre practitioner (and translated into german by gustav e. grumbach). it is divided into two parts, the first one about writing a play, the second about directing one for the stage. in 101 guidelines, he gives advice on the how to do it best and describes the process of a play coming onto the stage in very entertaining language giving a lot of practical examples from his own work. Not only is it valuable for everybody who wants to adventure into the art of playmaking but also highly recommendable for those interested in the british theatre landscape and alan ayckbourn as a person.

 

'theaterhandwerk' on amazon.de     and 'the crafty art of playmaking', also on amazon.de  

the other brilliant book that i'd like to share is 'weniger ist mehr', written by stunning actor michael caine (and translated by petra schreyer). the original english version is callled 'acting in film: an actor's take on movie making' (this is the amazon.co.uk page). in it, caine takes the reader on a tour through what it means to act for film and advises on how to do it properly. with a lot of practical examples from his own career, the book makes you begin to understand why he is that good at his job. it gives you a great insight and makes you admire the art of acting.