Visiting speaker Dr. Lucie Sutherland (University of Nottingham, UK) presents as part of the Friday Night Lights On series at the American Shakespeare Center.

The first run of Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest was cut short in
1895, the successful production experiencing a decline in box office takings after
Wilde attempted to prosecute the Marquess of Queensberry for libel, a legal battle
that ended with Wilde’s own arrest, trial and imprisonment. However, since the first
decades of the twentieth century the play has been revived frequently. As Wilde’s
iconic status has grown, Earnest has been celebrated as a sophisticated comedy
that engages with subjects that remain significant and recognisable for audiences,
for example, the tension between dominant societal expectations and complex
personal identity. This talk will focus upon the theatre industry-specific conditions that shaped this much-loved play, most particularly the role of actor-manager George Alexander in developing the three-act version that is most often published and performed today, and Wilde’s own knowledge of and interest in English theatre
history, developed in his earlier career as a theatre critic. Examination of how Wilde
engaged with these subjects can contribute to our understanding of how this
prominent play was created, and its enduring popularity secured.

Lucie Sutherland is Assistant Professor in Drama at the University of Nottingham.
Her research is concerned with the way professional infrastructure influences
repertoire in mainstream theatre. Lucie has published on the emergence and
influence of formal training for actors, the altering professional status of the actress
in the early twentieth century, and the enduring influence of the actor-manager
system. Publications include J.M. Barrie’s ‘Peter Pan’ (2018, for the Routledge
‘Fourth Wall’ series), George Alexander and the Work of the Actor-Manager (2020,
Palgrave Macmillan), and as editor, Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest
(Methuen, 2022).