A farcical satire written by one of the world's most prolific writers, The Importance of Being Earnest remains an audience favourite. This story of two Victorian aristocrats trying to escape their social burdens contains all of Oscar Wilde's characteristic wit, Victorian charm and biting social commentary without ever becoming too serious. In Wilde's own words, "It is exquisitely trivial...we should treat all the trivial things of life seriously, and all the serious and studied things of life with sincere and studied triviality."

  

Heading up the creative team is Director Cory Doran. Cory was first seen at Hart House Theatre in the iconic role of Pseudolus in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum in 2007 and returns to direct one of the greatest comedies ever written. As one of Toronto's great voice talents, Cory has built a career in animation and has received a Gemini nomination for his work. As a director, Cory has worked with the Scarborough Players, the Homestead Theatre Project, Erindale Theatre and other Fringe! productions.

 

In the position of Costume Designer, we are thrilled to have Dora Award Nominee Ming Wong join us for her tenth production at Hart House Theatre. While her main focus is theatrical costume design, Ming has had the chance to work on a variety of other projects, including advertising and television. She also mentors at the Etobicoke School of the Arts in the music theatre and drama departments.

 

Creating the set design for Wilde's world is Brandon Kleiman. Brandon has worked multiple times on our historic stage and brings a wealth of experience with him. He designs for both the stage and film and is a design assistant at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival. Outside of the festival, Brandon has assisted designers Michael Gianfrancesco, Sean Mulcahy, Douglas Paraschuk, David Boechler, Julie Fox, and Robert Brill for Toronto, Winnipeg, New York and Los Angeles. 

 

When asked to speak about the concept for the design, Brandon said: "The concept is to try and bring the stiff world of Victoria's England to life again - to infuse it with electricity and excitement. The world of the play explodes through a giant picture frame onto the apron of the stage, ready for action! The portrait has come to life and we're now in Wilde's world: terribly askew characters, non-sequiturs everywhere, logic and anarchy, and most importantly - nonsense! These are all modern ideas and so the set hopes to feel modern and period at the same time; a fresh look at characters that we never seem to grow weary of."

Designer Brandon Kleiman works from inspirational photography, then makes early sketches and drawings to inform the final design