Oscar Wilde’s most well known society play, The Importance of Being Earnest, is soon to grace The Motley Bauhaus stage, but, in the hands of the production company Misfit Toys, this new adaptation is not what one might expect. Presented by an all-female/femme ensemble, Misfit Toys says it is thrilled to present this tart send up of British high society.
Originally coming onboard because she was asked, actor Sonia Marcon, also thought the idea of an all-female Importance of Being Earnest was very exciting and original, and she wanted to be a part of it.
“I had worked with Darby (Turnbull), the director, before, and have a great deal of respect for his artistic integrity and creativity,” she says. “When I had worked with him last, it was not as actor and director – so I was really excited to form a new creative relationship.”
Asked what traditionalists should expect from this all-female cast, Marcon is frank saying traditionalists should leave their preconceptions at the door. “If we were going to do the stuffy, usual male production, we would have done it,” she says. “It’s worth noting that nothing has been changed in the script. What’s changed is how the audience takes the play now that a cast of female/femme-identifying performers are saying those lines.”
Marcon is correct to state that it’s also not that radical to play with gender in theatre. “All of the women in Shakespeare’s plays were originally performed by men and boys, so it isn’t anything new for women to play male parts. I think Wilde would be excited by the idea as he was always challenging societal norms.”
Marcon plays Jack Worthing, a man used by Wilde (along with Algernon Moncrieff) to highlight the play’s themes of deception through their bunburying deceit.
“Jack is a person who has many masks, explains Marcon. “He has by chance inherited wealth, and that has given him status in a very class-based society. He is living a lie though, because while he remains Jack Worthing in the country, in the city he is romancing a young woman by pretending his name is Earnest. The story is about hopeful honesty, if you like, and trying to prove his name’s worth.
Jack is essentially very unlikeable, but he tries to be loved by everyone. You can look around anywhere and see everybody acting like Jack does. We lie. We pretend. We obfuscate. We do all of this because we are essentially trying to find our own true identities and be accepted. If you think about how you act at work, or with friends, or even on social media, I think we’re all a bit Jack.”
Marcon posits that Wilde’s ingenious satire on social mores still thrives as a piece of theatre after more than a hundred years of performances. It still functions comedically and its popularity would suggest that both production companies and audiences still admire the craft of its construction and the freshness of its commentary on duplicity.
“I think the humour in the play has not dated, and there is so much modern audiences can relate to it, says Marcon. “It’s also a text that theatre makers can still find new and fresh ways to present. The themes of the play are also very pertinent to 2025.”
A play exploring the hypocrisy of Victorian values, it also tackles themes such as love and marriage, identity and truth, deceit and freedom and, of course, class.
“There are lots of themes that are relevant,” says Marcon. “Class is a big one: how much has modern culture become so stringently class-conscious? We might think we’re beyond class consciousness in Australia, but we definitely are not. The rich get to behave one way, and the general public another. The void between the two has become a dangerous chasm.”
Marcon feels there’s so much pride in ownership still. In the play the characters talk about their homes in the city, and their homes in the country. “In Australia it feels like you are nothing if you don’t own the prerequisite amount of property and wealth. No one seems to be employed in the play, that is an absolute dream for everyone in modern society and culture: to be independently wealthy. This play shows how disgusting that actually is, because of how those people behave.”
Marcon grew up in Perth and graduated with a Theatre & Drama degree from Murdoch University. Her work spans Shakespeare to Pinter, performing at the Malthouse, the Melba Spiegeltent, ACMI, Melbourne Fringe and Midsumma Festivals. Holding an impressive resume, Marcon is also a proud performer with disability and is excited about where her years of experience and professional training will take her.
“I can’t lie: MS makes being a performer hard at times. I have been an actor for twentry-six year and twenty-two of those have been with MS. I have my own challenges, which are many as MS affects every part of my mind and body, but really they’re all not the hardest part. The hardest part is being accepted. A lot of productions won’t cast actors with disability because it doesn’t match their expectations, or they worry it will be a challenge for them, even if the character is disabled. There was a film made in Australia last year about a woman with MS, and the producers cast an able-bodied actor. You still see theatre productions of Richard III where they cast able-bodied performers as a famously disabled king.
Marcon says she doesn’t want to be someone who people come and watch so they feel inspired though – she’s just doing what she does. “I love what I do, but I’m doing it for me. A challenge is that along with not being cast in disabled roles, disabled and chronically ill people have issues being cast in anything. I’m playing Jack with a disability. He has a walking stick on stage. I mean, nobody ever said he’s not disabled.
What’s more important than inspiration is representation. One in five people in Australia has a disability. Doesn’t that mean that our art should reflect that too? While I know I am different because of my disability – and I’m proud of that difference – I’d also like to normalise that difference.”
In fact, something she feels she has in common with her character is having an acquired disability did make Marcon question her new identity when she was first diagnosed. ” I had to go through a huge, long process to find the “real” me. I feel like being an actor has actually helped me do that, because the processes I go through to find characters have helped me in my own life.”
As an actor, Marcon loves to play characters as far away from her as possible. “I live every day as myself, so if I pretend to be completely someone else for a while then I’m happy. Of course that doesn’t mean I dislike myself. It’s more of a creative challenge to go beyond the real me, and sometimes the real altogether.”
Marcon’s next production, after Earnest, is with Weave Movement Theatre. “They go beyond typical storytelling by using the body in expressive and challenging ways. I love doing that and have done all types of theatre from dance to Shakespeare to comedies to traditional drama.”
Marcon says about this adaptation of The Importance of Being Earnest, A Trivial Comedy for Serious People” “While this will still be a production of The Importance of Being Earnest, there is enough difference in this show to give people a fresh experience. It’s got a great creative director, and the cast are exceptional, funny people. You’ll be missing out if you miss it.”
August 6 – 16
https://www.eventfinda.com.au/2025/the-importance-of-being-earnest/melbourne/carlton
