The Importance Of Being Algernon Critical Essay

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Critical Analysis: The Importance of Being Earnest The actor who played Algernon Moncrieff in The Importance of being Earnest did an admirable job creating an authentic personality for his character. A couple of traits Algernon possessed were arrogance and nonchalance. The actor who played Algernon exemplified arrogance through his posture and by the way he carried himself. By looking relaxed with his feet up on the coffee table, or walking with swagger during the scenes, the actor communicated confidence and a sense of self-importance. This actor also conveyed nonchalance in the scene when he and Jack are discussing the situation between Gwendolen, Cecily and themselves. After Cecily and Gwendolen had discovered the lies told by the men, Jack is upset and attempting to deal with the situation, while Algernon consumes several muffins and acts indifferent towards the situation. His words …show more content…

Her exaggerated voice inflections with her British accent came across as humorous and the actress did a fantastic job livening the stage whenever she entered. The scenic designer contributed to the success of the production by distinguishing between the country and city settings. The location of the different acts needed to be obvious, so the scenic designer created a realistic city scene with elegant furniture and the country scene with a large stone path through center stage, then flowers and plants near upstage. A specific moment where the director contributed to the success of the production was when Jack, Algernon, Cecily and Gwendolyn realized Lady Augusta was about to enter the room in the 3rd act. To execute a sense of alarm, the director had the actors suddenly rush into “natural” positions (and a couple characters even pretended to be reading a book), which communicated the message that the characters were nervous about Lady Augusta