Theater review: ‘Wilde/Earnest’

— Are you a Bunburyist or a Baldwinist?

Your answer to that may be more than mere metaphysical speculation. It could have a direct correlation to your enjoyment of Wilde/Earnest, Lee Trull’s hipster dance party remix of Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest, which some consider the funniest play in Western literature. Trull, a local writer, director and the Director of New Play Development at Dallas Theater Center, has unfurled his sometimes clever, more often silly (because why not?) ode to Wilde’s masterpiece in a world premiere at Kitchen Dog Theater.

Trull converts the Victorian snobs of Wilde’s play into modern day hipsters who snack on Nutter Butters instead of cucumber sandwiches, drink Modelo Especial in a can (what, no PBR?) instead of tea, and sometimes talk to each other while roller skating, bouncing on mini trampolines, fighting while wearing bubble balls or hanging in a plastic kiddie pool.

Again we ask, why not?

Trull has kept much of Wilde’s text, adding references to blogs, TED talks and Uber. It follows the plot, although there’s a twist at the end that comes from double casting and switching genders (and spellings) with the character of Rev. Chasuble, who here becomes Chausable, played by Leah Spillman, who also takes on the play’s most delicious role, Mrs. Bracknell, in Iris Apfel glasses. This twist also works as sly commentary on Wilde’s “gross indecency” that landed him in prison.

Matt Lyle and Max Hartman are Algernon and Jack, respectively, who are caught up in will-they/won’t-they relations with Cecily (Martha Harms) and Gwendolen (Jenny Ledel). Both women adore men named “Ernest,” so both men have no problem pretending to be so named.

And there’s where Trull’s idea is sharp. Hipsters are often accused of liking/disliking something based on its arc of trendiness or popularity, so that dovetails with Wilde’s biting satire of Victorian codes of behavior. His subtitle for the 1895 work, “a trivial comedy for serious people,” says it all.

But of course, hipsterism doesn’t lead to the kind of classism or moral superiority of the Victorians that would have social impact, in some cases detrimental, on generations to follow; so the “serious people” of Trull’s world are all the more ridiculous. It’s the difference between laughing at the Dowager Countess’ bon mots in Downton Abbey and howling at Betty White dropping an F-bomb. One is puerile, but they’re both funny.

It’s with that spirit that his cast (he also directs) has a ball in their roles, especially when busting a Moby dance to infectious original music by Jencey Keeton of Dallas band French 75 (Danielle Georgiou handles choreography), and set against Rob Wilson’s pastel set, which lights up certain shapes (cloud, tree, martini glass) to indicate a scene’s setting. Lyle is particularly cunning with taking the wacky to the edge, just before going too far. He’s the hipster who’s probably a little too out-there for the other hipsters; just call him Dorkian Gray.

So what’s the diff between Bunburying and Baldwining? Nothing, because the latter is Trull’s word for the former in Wilde’s play. But unlike Algy, who has a penchant for said action, don’t Bunbury/Baldwin your way out of seeing Wilde/Earnest.

This story was originally published March 20, 2015 at 2:14 PM with the headline "Theater review: ‘Wilde/Earnest’."