Jamie Smith Assignment 6

Our group’s performance successfully conveyed the humor and ideas in “The Importance of Being Earnest,” but it could have more fully captured the essence of the play by being more dramatic.

Jack’s character was played well; his character developed and reacted to questions and responses from Gwendolen and Lady Bracknell. Gwendolen didn’t have as much of a presence as she was portrayed to have in the written version of the play, partly do to lack of projection, but her character was identifiable. Lady Bracknell’s character was very successfully conveyed through her body language and projection. All of the characters stayed in character throughout the performance, and lines were all delivered uniformly in character. We were well prepared, with our lines memorized and props that modernized the play while adding humor.

Space could have been used more fully, although much of the space was used through Jack’s pacing, Gwendolen’s exit, and Lady Bracknell’s entrance. All of the lines were memorized, which helped the performance stay in tone and flow nicely. The characters could’ve interacted more with each other, showing more dramatic reactions to lines and absurd occurrences. One specific example of this would be when Jack proposed to Gwendolen, the characters could have been more dramatic and excited over their engagement.

The performance of this play helped me more fully understand the context of the text. Costumes and accents brought to life some semblance of the Victorian society, allowing me to grasp more wholly the irony and humor within the context of when it was written.