SCR/Party Play with Ann Conway

Honorary Producer Elaine Weinberg and Director Warner Shook

Tom Rogers and Sally Anderson and Anne and Kae Ewing with actor Christine Marie Brown, center.

Wylie Aitken and actor Kandis Chappell

'EARNEST' CELEBRATION AT PARK TOWER CAPS WITTY OSCAR WILDE PLAY OPENER
By Ann Conway

It was an English garden-party setting so evocative of a scene from The Importance of Being Earnest that it felt like playwright Oscar Wilde himself should be among the frolicking throng of First Nighters.

Trim privet hedges and towering topiaries, along with a culinary array of crunchy cucumber sandwiches, sweet tea cakes, frothy mini trifles—even a lip-puckering libation dubbed "Oscar's Wild Martini" (a dizzying combination of apple schnapps, vodka, 7-Up and lemonade) set the upbeat vibe at the "Earnest" post-performance party at Park Tower following the Feb. 15 opening night. And, of course, there were bangers and mash, roast beef with horseradish and steaming hot shepherd's pie for those hungry for heartier fare following the 2-hour and 35-minute production directed by Warner Shook and underwritten by Elaine J. Weinberg and Deutsche Bank Private Wealth Management, represented by Managing Director Doug McCrea.

As playgoers mingled with actors Michael Gotch (Algernon), Tommy Schrider (Jack) and Kandis Chappell (Lady Bracknell), they buzzed about the witty genius of Wilde and the play's spot-on interpretation by Shook. "Warner Shook is a wonderful director—the best!" exclained Honorary Producer Weinberg. ("And Elaine has produced eight other productions over the years!" observed SCR Board President Larry Higby during his onstage remarks. "We are enormously grateful.")

Weinberg and her late husband, Martin Weinberg, were such fans of the British playwright—famous for witticisms such as, "The only way to get rid of temptation is to yield to it!”—that they once stayed in the very hotel room in Paris where Wilde died in 1900. "I remembered that on his death bed, Wilde had looked at his room's ghastly wallpaper and said, "One of us has got to go!' " recalled a chuckling Elaine. "So, we spent one night there."

As he received congratulatory handshakes from the crowd, Schrider gave First Nighters high marks for their response to the convoluted romantic romp on Segerstrom Stage. "In this play, the audience becomes the 9th character. We really count on the audience for give and take, for feedback," he said, smiling (and looking a lot like a dashingly young Daniel Day-Lewis). How did the audience perform? "Very well! A wonderful performance!" he said.

Gotch loved participating in the play's verbose use of the English language. "These days, vocabulary is going down; we have one word to describe so many things! But back in Wilde's time, and even further back to Shakespeare, there were very specific language choices. This play reminds people of the beauty of language and what it could be like if we got back to a more language-based society."

Chappell shared that she had once before appeared in the play, "in 1980, in the early days of San Jose Rep," she said. Playing the domineering and dogmatic Lady Bracknell—a haughty grand dame demanding total control—was a challenge. "I'm not that way at all, so it took me a long time to figure her out. Warner encouraged me to ‘enjoy her power' and now I'm having fun with it," she said.

Surrounded by well-wishers, Shook observed that this was the first time he had directed a play by Wilde. "Wilde's comic genius transcends time; he punctures anybody who pontificates about anything, makes us look at our lives from a different point of view."

"And did you know," Shook asked enthusiastically, "that it was 113 years ago last night, Feb. 14, that this play had its world premiere?"

Bob Haskell, actor Elise Hunt, and Producing Artistic Director David Emmes	Katie Malin, Gail Doe, actor Richard Doyle, Julie Ann Ulcickas
Actor Michael Gotch with Laurie and Bart Brown	Betty and S.L. Huang with actor Tommy Schrider
Tom Rogers and Sally Anderson with actor Christine Marie Brown	Actors J.D. Keller and Bryan Vickery with Honorary Producer Elaine Weinberg
Dean Peterson sets up Media Partner Riviera display and gift bags from The Spa.	Actor Amelia White (left) with Robert and LaDorna Eichenberg
Actors Tommy Schrider and Michael Gotch admire the English garden theme	Olivia Johnson and actor Elise Hunt
Kate Malin, Gail Doe and actor Amelia White	Nancy Almaguer, Betty and S.L. Huang, actor Tommy Schrider, Debra Parker
Board President Larry Higby and actor Kandis Chappell	Wylie and Bette Aitken with Director Warner Shook