Guest Director Stages Wilde's 'Earnest'

Oscar Wilde’s witty and farcical comedy of manners, The Importance of Being Earnest, opens the 2008-2009 season for Rowan University’s Department of Theatre & Dance in a production staged by Philadelphia theatrical artist Madi Distefano. Performances are October 24, 25, 30 & 31 and November 1, 2008, at 8 pm, with Sunday matinees on October 26 and November 2 at 3 pm in Tohill Theatre.

Wilde’s comic masterpiece portrays a world of high style where the truth is “rarely pure and never simple.” Friends Jack Worthing and Algernon Moncrieff disguise their identities to win their young loves, Gwendolyn Fairfax and Cecily Cardew. But when their worlds of artifice collide, Jack and Algernon must truly learn the importance of being earnest. The Rowan production strikes a bit of a “contemporary” tone for the play, written more than 100 years ago, using a mix of styles from the ‘20s, ‘30s and ‘40s.

The cast of student actors features Rachel Bauer of Woolwich as Lady Bracknell, Andrew Clotworthy of Centerville MD as Jack Worthing, Maggie Corl of Doylestown PA as Gwendolyn Fairfax, Laura Fullerton of Williamstown as Miss Prism, Jason Lacy of Newfield as Lane, Kelsey Malone of Tabernacle as Cecily Cardew, James Quartuccio of Avenel as Merriman, Tim Rinehart of Cherry Hill as Algernon Moncrieff and Frank Zywicki of Sparta as Rev. Chasuble.

Distefano is a highly-regarded director, actor, writer, producer and teacher in the Philadelphia theatre community. She is the founding artistic director of Philadelphia-based Brat Productions, where she has produced more than 30 shows. As a freelance artist, she has worked at Walnut Street Theatre, The Wilma Theatre, Azuka Theatre and others in the region. She is a recipient of a Barrymore Award, an Independence Foundation Fellowship in the Arts and a Leeway Foundation grant. Her one woman show, Popsicle’s Departure 1989 has played in New York and at the Edinburgh Fringe (where it was honored with an award for Best Solo Show). Aside from her work at Rowan, she is restaging a production of Brat’s Naked Cocktail for a retrospective festival at the Painted Bride and directing A Tuna Christmas for Walnut’s Independence Studio.

Presented by Rowan University’s Department of Theatre & Dance, The Importance of Being Earnest is performed in Tohill Theatre, located in Bunce Hall on the campus of Rowan University, Route 322 in Glassboro. Tickets are $10, general admission; and $5 for seniors, students, staff and alumni. Rowan students are admitted free with ID. For information and advance tickets, visit www.rowan.edu/theatredance or call the Box Office at (856) 256-4545.

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Author: Press Release