Middlebury Community Players proudly presents its February 2023 production of Oscar Wilde’s classic comedy, “The Importance of Being Earnest.”

Set in late-19th century England, the play pokes fun at the pretentiousness of the upper-class Victorian society that forces Jack and Algernon to create fictitious lives to avoid the social repercussions of their seemingly less attractive lifestyles. But their clever tricks become increasingly difficult to maintain when they insist on proposing marriage to the women they love.

ASA BAKER-ROUSE as Algernon Moncrieff and Adam Gould as Jack Worthing.
Photo courtesy of David Devine

Director Peter Kristoph, who most recently directed Edward Albee’s “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” for MCP’s Company Be, has assembled a talented cast of both veteran and newcomer area actors, featuring Asa Baker-Rouse as Algernon Moncrieff, Kevin Commins as Lady Bracknell, Adam Gould as Jack Worthing, David Harcourt as Lane, Tom McElhaney as Dr. Chasuble, Kimberlee Moyer as Miss Prism, Olivia Olson as Cecily Cardew, Michael Purdue as Merriman, and Jillian Torres as Gwendolen Fairfax.

The show is stage managed by Dora Greven and co-produced by Kristen Ginsburg and Jane Kimble.

Photo by David Devine

Performances are on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Feb. 16-18, at 7:30 p.m., as well as a matinee on Sunday, Feb. 19, at 2 p.m., at Middlebury’s Town Hall Theater. Tickets are $12 on Thursday night, and $17 for the remaining shows, plus a $2 THT fee, and are available at the Town Hall Theater Box Office (802-382-9222 or townhalltheater.org). More information about the show is at middleburycommunityplayers.org.