Theater Thursday - Being Earnest

What: Being Earnest

Where: Available for Purchase or Rental at www.streamingmusicals.com/film/being-earnest

Who: Tweens and Up

Being Earnest is an updated musical version of the renowned Oscar Wilde play, The Importance of Being Earnest. Although the time period has been updated from the late 1800s when the play was originally written to the 1960s, the language is still rather formal and old-fashioned. The costumes and backgrounds are a lively swirl of psychedelic neon colors, however. You don't necessarily have to be familiar with the original show to enjoy this version of the story which basically revolves around two men who create alternate identities to escape their boring lives and the women that fall for their alternate identities. Both alternate identities share the first name Earnest which is where the confusion comes in. Certain implausibilities of the plot, like the fact that two women would both be obsessed with men named Earnest not men that happened to be named Earnest but with the name itself, can be attributed to Oscar Wilde himself and his original play and not to the current adaptation which basically follows the same plot as the original. 

The show was created at the height of the pandemic, and thus each actor was filmed on their own in their own home. Except for a few minor glitches when an actor clearly does not look like they are looking at another actor, the whole thing comes together quite well, and you wouldn't know the actors were not together when the musical was recorded. The blending of voices in the songs is especially good. The songs for the most part are peppy and fun. Each song is like a video with bright colors and various pictures popping up all around. It certainly keeps things from getting boring, but it is also a little like watching an MTV musical. The show is mostly engaging and pleasant, however especially if you can overlook those aforementioned implausibilities in the plot.

Being Earnest is available for rental for $4.99 or for purchase for $19.99 from Streaming Musicals. For more information or to rent or purchase the show, visit www.streamingmusicals.com/film/being-earnest.

Tune in Sunday for this week's Sunday Scoop.