4
FEBRUARY 2�9, 2022
CURTAIN CALL
LIVE THEATER AND MUSICAL PRODUCTIONS
AROUND EASTERN OREGON
Hale-Turner Theatre presents
‘The Importance of Being Earnest’
By Trish Yerges
Go! Magazine
E
Grant Turner/Contributed image
Sam Shown, left, and Liberty O’Dell star in the Hale-Turner Theatre’s
production of Oscar Wilde’s “The Importance of Being Earnest.” Producer
Grant Turner said he chose the play “because it’s charming and romantic, and
it’s quite laugh-out-loud funny, even 130 years later.”
LGIN — Producer Grant
Turner of the Hale-Turner
Theatre in Elgin welcomes all to
an evening of satirical Victorian
humor as an eight-member cast
performs the ever popular 1895
comedy of manners by play-
wright Oscar Wilde.
“In it, actress Grace Tanner
makes another stage appear-
ance, this time as Lady Augusta
Bracknell,” Turner said. The other
cast members are Sam Shown as
Jack, Liberty O’Dell as Algernon,
Abbie Shown as Gwendolen, Cas-
sandra Johnson as Cecily, Beth
Wiseman as Miss Prism, Michael
Cooper as Reverend Chasuble
and Victoria Ingram as the butler.
“The Importance of Being
Earnest” is directed by Cody
Wyld Flower.
“The reason I chose this play
is because it’s charming and ro-
mantic, and it’s quite laugh-out-
loud funny, even 130 years later,”
Turner said.
Set in London, the plot focus-
es on some socially well-to-do
people, including two young men,
Algernon and Jack, who want to
marry Gwendolen and Cecily.
“However,” Turner said, “these
two women have made it very
plain to these young men that
they each want to marry some-
one named Earnest.”
How Algernon and Jack try
to jump through this hoop is at
the heart of this farcical comedy.
Being sincere and being Earnest
are not going to be easy tasks for
these young men when they real-
ize they must pass the scrutiny
of Lady Bracknell. She is the em-
bodiment of Victorian respect-
ability and an impediment to
romance and happiness — never
lacking for opinions and always
looking out for her own interests
as well as the young ladies.
IF YOU GO
Comedy: “The Importance of
Being Earnest”
Where: Hale-Turner Theatre,
831 Alder St., Elgin
Dates: Feb. 11-12, 18-19
and 25-26
Times: Fridays, 7:30 p.m.;
Saturdays, 2:30 and 7:30 p.m.
Tickets: $20; available at
elginoperahouse.com or by
calling 541-663-6324
“A young woman,” Lady
Bracknell declares, “doesn’t get
to decide if she gets to be mar-
ried. Her parents decide. It should
be a surprise to her, pleasant or
unpleasant as it may be.”
“The Importance of Being
Earnest” is full of crazy and
funny satire, yet it’s delivered
with some semblance of reality,
Turner said. You are “earnestly”
invited to the Hale-Turner The-
atre to enjoy Oscar Wilde’s satiri-
cal poke at the upper Victorian
class and their society rules.
Turner joined the Elgin Opera
House in 2018 as associate
artistic director. His wife, Dr.
Nicole Turner, works at Grande
Ronde Hospital.