Article by Logan Tolbert; Photos by Alex Allen

The second play of the 2025-2026 school year has just finished its final showing. Theatre USA presents “The Importance of Being Earnest,” written by Oscar Wilde in 1894 and first shown on stage in 1895. The opening performance was on Friday, November 14, 2025, at 7:30 p.m.

This play takes place in Victorian England, specifically in London and the countryside around it. The story follows two main characters: John Worthing, played by Ari Theodore, and Algernon Moncrieff, played by Caden Crenshaw. Both leading characters lie about who they are to avoid social obligations and to marry the people they desire. These lies create misunderstandings and they must try to keep others from finding out the secret that they are not who they say they are.

This play is a comedy and, despite being written over 100 years ago, the jokes still hold up well. For example, the character Lady Bracknell, played by Lilly Johnson, is an overbearing mother to her daughter Gwendolen Fairfax, played by Rae Phillips, which is a trope still used commonly. The character of Algernon has many jokes throughout the play, such as his constant snacking or the treatment of the various butlers, portrayed by Psi Corely, Josef Halloway, and William Starling. There are also many laughs to be had in the relationship between Gwendolen Fairfax and young heiress Cecily Cardew, played by Autumn Bryant, as they uncover the mystery of their love interests’ identities. Not to mention the side plots between Dr. Chausabel and Ms. Prism, played by Avery Morton and Erin Rose Pompel, respectively.

Directed by John Nara, the production highlights the themes of wanting to escape social obligations and the norms of marriage. The story is decently long with a runtime of just about 2 hours. There is a 10-minute intermission halfway through. The lighting, designed by Evan Wilson, and sound, designed by Erin Rose Pempel, were big parts of what made this play so good at drawing the audiences’ attention at the proper time and place.

The costumes, makeup, props, and set were all big contributors to the play because of their accuracy. The costumes and makeup were designed by Christina Johnson, the costume designer and the hair and makeup designer. The props were obtained and made by the props master Josef Holloway. The set was designed by Quincy Smith, the scenic charge artist.

The performances were held at the Laidlaw Performing Arts Center on November 14,15,19, 20, 21 at 7:30 pm with another being held at 2:00 pm on the 16th. The runtime was 2-hours, with one 10-minute intermission halfway through the performance.

To stay up to date with Theatre USA and their future productions, you can follow them at @usatheatreanddance on Instagram, and look out for their first performance in the spring: “Philemon” by Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt.