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The interesting thing about "The Importance of Being Earnest" is that it's entirely frivolous.
It's the most brilliant play of manners in the English language, written by an Irishman,
of course, and, um, there isn't a serious moment in it, and the, uh, philosopher Wittgenstein
said once "Why stay up on the barren heights of cleverness, why not come down into the
green valleys of silliness," and that's entirely what the audience is invited to do when they
see "The Importance of Being Earnest." It's silly. It's brilliant, but it's silly.
Wilde is funny from the curtain up to the curtain down, and, yet, it sounds like conversation.
Part of his brilliance is that the characters are ordinary characters, I mean, they're recognizable
characters. They may be titled, or they may be, or they may be servants, but they all
speak in this wonderful high comedy style. It's unique. It's absolutely unique in the
history of drama in English.