American Conservatory Theater Presents British Comedies

The plays, directed by Ken Ruta and Barbara Oliver, respectively, both doyens of Bay Area theater, will be performed by members of the A.C.T. Master of Fine Arts (M.F.A.) class of 2008 and will play in repertory at Zeum Theater October 17 through November 3.

A.C.T. Conservatory Director Melissa Smith and General Manager George Thompson chose The Importance of Being Earnest and Candida to run in repertory not only for each play's individual artistic brilliance, but also for the complementary images of fin-de-siecle English class and culture they offer. "Both plays take place in and around London at around the same time," notes Smith, "yet they comment on very different worlds. Earnest takes place within (and pokes fun at) a very proper upper-crust milieu, while Candida, for the most part, looks at the interaction among various segments of the middle, upper-middle, and lower classes." Thompson adds, "Both Shaw and Wilde were also Irish by birth and heritage," giving them an outsider's perspective on the strange goings-on in the capital of the British Empire.

One of the best-loved plays of the English-speaking world, The Importance of Being Earnest continues to dazzle audiences with its shimmering wit and flawless language. As Jack and Algernon one-up each other in their insane antics to win the hearts of their beloved ladies, Wilde's timeless comedy of identity asks the essential question, "What's in a name?"—and answers it with perfectly honed wit and a perfectly madcap plot. Love will indeed prevail in this comic classic—but not without a healthy sense of humor.

Wilde's linguistic pyrotechnics are best enjoyed alongside a generous helping of Shaw's witty, yet down-to-earth social conscience. An insightful comic investigation of class, family, and political action, Candida candidly rounds out our perspective on turn-of-the-century London. Cockney rogues, nervous aristocrats, jealous curates: everyone wants Candida, the beautiful, gracious wife of a socially progressive minister. There's only one problem: no one bothers to ask what Candy wants for herself. Shaw's fast-paced, thought-provoking comedy of ideas raised many an eyebrow at its turn-of-the-century premiere, and the play has lost none of its power to inform and to amuse.

The directors of The Importance of Being Earnest and Candida are among the most respected and celebrated Bay Area actors and are expected to encourage extraordinary ensemble performances from students in the final year of their training at one of the nation's greatest acting schools.

Ken Ruta, director of Earnest, made his A.C.T. premiere in the company's inaugural 1967 production of Tartuffe and has since appeared in more than 50 A.C.T. productions. Ruta's most recent A.C.T. credits include last season's The Circle, as well as The Voysey Inheritance and A Christmas Carol in 2005. An original member of the acting companies of Cincinnatti's Playhouse in the Park and Minneapolis's Tyrone Guthrie Theater, he is an associate artist at San Diego's Old Globe and has maintained a 20-year relationship with Arizona Theater Company.

A vibrant participant in Bay Area theater for nearly five decades, Barbara Oliver, director of Candida, directed more than a dozen plays during her tenure as founding artistic director of Berkeley's Aurora Theatre, including Saint Joan, The Persians, and The Master Builder. A four-time Bay Area Theatre Critics' Circle Award winner, Oliver has appeared in 26 productions since 1969 at Berkeley Repertory Theatre; she has also trod the boards at Seattle Repertory Theatre, The Old Globe, Berkeley Stage Company, and the One-Act Theatre. She performed most recently at A.C.T. last season as Berte in Richard E. T. White's production of Hedda Gabler.

Poet, novelist, celebrated wit Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) continues to be one of the English language's finest and best-loved comic playwrights. Born into fashionable Anglo-Irish circles in Dublin, Wilde won a scholarship to Magdalen College, Oxford. After his graduation from Oxford, Wilde's wit, poetry, and flamboyant personal style quickly made him a celebrity in London. A key figure in the "aesthetic" movement, Wilde's belief in the centrality of art and beauty to life was well known, and continues to find expression in the technical perfection of his published work. While almost all of Wilde's plays, including Lady Windermere's Fan, An Ideal Husband, and Salomé, played to enthusiastic audiences at their premieres, The Importance of Being Earnest is universally recognized as his masterpiece.

Also a Dubliner, born to an alcoholic ne'er-do-well and a noted singer, George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) moved to London in his youth and initially came to notoriety as an essayist, critic, and political activist. A vocal member of the Fabian Society, a noted socialist group based in London, Shaw disdained the popular, sentimental "cup and saucer" comedies of the Victorian era and dedicated himself to writing plays—such as Mrs. Warren's Profession, Arms and the Man, and Heartbreak House—that tackled unpopular social issues with an ironic comedic tone, hoping to use "their dramatic power . . . to force the spectator to face unpleasant facts." His dry wit and infectious humor, however, won him international fame. To this day, Shaw remains unique in having won both a Nobel Prize for Literature (in 1925) and an Academy Award (in 1938, for Pygmalion).

The cast of the repertory productions consists of 14 members of the graduating third-year class of the A.C.T. M.F.A. Program. They are Axel Avin, Jr., Raife Baker, Jahmela Biggs, Kaliswa Brewster, Kevin Dedes, J. C. Ernst, Jeffrey Irwin, Dan Morrison, Shannon Parker, Erik Saxvik, Tovah Suttle, Amanda Sykes, Caitlin Talbot, and James Wagner.

Joining the design team for these productions are scenic designer Wilson Chin, lighting designer Michael Palumbo, costume designer Callie Floor, and sound designer Colin Trevor.

Ranked as one of the top programs in the nation by U.S. News & World Report, the A.C.T. Master of Fine Arts Program was the first theater training program in the country not affiliated with a college or university accredited to award the master of fine arts degree. The M.F.A. Program functions as the cornerstone of the A.C.T. Conservatory, which also includes the Summer Training Congress, Studio A.C.T., and the Young Conservatory. The third and final year of the program is designed to give students the opportunity to focus primarily on performing for a public audience. Past M.F.A. Program third-year productions have included works by Christopher Durang, Charles Busch, Marc Blitzstein, Georg Büchner, Caryl Churchill, George Farquhar, Henrik Ibsen, Robert O'Hara, Harold Pinter, William Shakespeare, Oscar Wilde, and Bertolt Brecht. -- www.act-sf.org