Cast, crew prepare for opening night of student production of ‘Earnest’

At the beginning of summer, seniors and co-directors Manini Desai and Jason Tatman held auditions for the early fall student production of “The Importance of Being Earnest” by Oscar Wilde. Three months and many practices later, the 12 students involved have begun preparing for the opening night.

“I chose ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ because it is one of my favorite plays,” Desai said.  “I read it a year ago and I thought it would be a great student show.” 

  Student productions are usually directed by one senior who applies for the position of director at the end of the previous school year.  However, Desai and Tatman decided to choose and co-direct “The Importance of Being Earnest” together.  

“Working with Jason is interesting because directing is about creating your own vision for a show, and making it come alive on stage, but co-directing is different because you have to work to combine two people's ideas,” said Desai. “I'm not going to lie, it is difficult at times because we both have strong, and good, ideas for what we can do for the show, but we learned to work together and I'm really happy with what we have come up with.”

Although both Desai and Tatman have participated in past student productions, this is their first time directing one. 

Alongside Desai and Tatman are seniors Zofia Trujillo and Katie Burns. As a first-time producer, Trujillo manages the money, designs the T-shirts and makes the posters. Burns works as the set designer. 

“It is fun working with the cast and crew to make sure the show comes together,” Desai said. “We felt pretty good about the show, but we are still a bit nervous for the first night.”

The cast is also excited for the performance. Junior Melissa Rogan, who plays the part of Cecily, expresses her enthusiasm for the play.

“I think ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ is a really good pick for this production,”  junior Melissa Rogan said. “The audience will love Wilde's wit, and it gives us a chance to step outside of our comfort zones because we have to put on British accents and play roles we don't get to portray very often.”

When preparing and practicing for the show, Tatman said the directors focus on the plot and language of the play. He said they also “try to get the actors to understand the comedic timing” in the show.

Senior Annelise Nussbacher, who plays the part of Lady Gwendolen Fairfax, Earnest’s love interest, said that participating in this production helped her figure out how to direct her own production in December. 

“Being involved in this production has given me the wonderful opportunity to see how the directors work and it gives me a sense of directing styles,” Nussbacher said.

The cast of “The Importance of Being Earnest” will perform on Sept. 5,7 and 8 in the Thermond Drama Center.