The Importance of Being Earnest

May  25, 26,  31, June 1, 2 @ 7:30 p.m.

May 26 & June 3 @ 2 pm.

by Oscar Wilde and adapted by Daniel Strickland

Directed by JJ Marrs

Poor Jack Worthing is in a pickle: his responsibilities at his beautiful estate in the English countryside call for him to be societally above reproach, yet his heart yearns for the decadent pleasures of London, no matter how un-virtuous these delights may seem to his constituents in Hertfordshire. How to fix this? Why not invent a conveniently wicked younger brother who constantly needs rescuing from London’s dens of iniquity? Surely this will lead to no humorous complications further down the road....

Undoubtedly the literary jewel in the crown of the late, great Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest combines all of what we love best about Wilde. Free from the moralizing constraints that hemmed in his other popular works, Earnest is as sinfully delicious as that extra slice of cake you cannot seem to resist.

Full of the best put downs and the most decorous fight at a tea table ever to be written, The Importance of Being Earnest seems effortlessly charming at all times, whether enjoying the Town or strolling along an English country garden. Always delightful, whether reading it for the first or hundred and first time.

Sylvia

August 10, 11, 16, 17, 18 @ 7:30 p.m.

August. 12 @ 2 p.m.

by A. R. Gurney and directed by JJ Marrs

Greg and Kate have moved to Manhattan after twenty-two years of child-raising in the suburbs. Greg's career as a financial trader is winding down, while Kate's career, as a public- school English teacher, is beginning to offer her more opportunities. Greg brings home a dog he found in the park —or that has found him—bearing only the name "Sylvia" on her name tag. A street-smart mixture of Lab and Poodle, Sylvia becomes a major bone of contention between husband and wife. She offers Greg an escape from the frustrations of his job and the unknowns of middle age. To Kate, Sylvia becomes a rival for affection. And Sylvia thinks Kate just doesn't understand the relationship between man and dog. The marriage is put in serious jeopardy until, after a series of hilarious and touching complications, Greg and Kate learn to compromise, and Sylvia becomes a valued part of their lives. A modern romantic comedy about a marriage and a dog.

"Dramatic literature is stuffed with memorable love scenes, but none is as immediately delicious and dizzy as the one that begins the redeeming affair in A.R. Gurney's new comedy, SYLVIA..." —NY Times.

"I can only call it one of the most involving, beautiful, funny, touching and profound plays I have ever seen..." —NY Daily News.

"Gurney's mad comedy is the most endearing good time to trot down the pike in many a moon. Howlingly funny..." — BackStage.

Contains adult language. May not be suitable for some audiences.