A scandalous revival of Oscar Wilde’s trivial comedy, The Importance of Being Earnest is Bloomshed’s latest take-down of high society at fortyfivedownstairs this August.
Frills, finery, and frivolity. This delightfully self-aware adaptation transforms Wilde’s irreverent satire into a salacious display of gross indecency. It’s plush punk. Bunbry(ing)*. Cucumber sandwiches where they almost certainly don’t belong. Welcome to the Wilde side.
Bloomshed make critically acclaimed award-winning theatre, pushing the boundaries of what live art is and can be. From immersive installations to radical re-imaginings of classic texts, the company mixes big political ideas with entertaining and accessible storytelling. Bloomshed’s work is a high-octane mess of delicious diatribe, dance breaks, and doom scrolling.
Since its inception in 2014, Bloomshed has created twelve new and adapted works, presenting at Darebin Arts Speakeasy, Common Rooms x Melbourne Fringe, Theatre Works, Blue Room Theatre, Old 505, Platform Arts, The Butterfly Club, The Wedge, and La Mama Theatre.
Bloomshed examines major political issues that attend our era: climate change, class inequality, and corporate greed. They are continually in a dialogue about new ways to reach their audience and empower communities to enact positive change.
*Bunbury is a fictional excuse that Algernon makes up to get out of any social commitment. He describes this pretext as “bunbuyring”, and also uses the term to describe Jack’s representation of himself as “Ernest” as well as his own masquerades. Bunbury and “bunbuyring” represent deception, fiction and escapism.
Creators and Performers: Elizabeth Brennan, Hayley Edwards, James Jackson, Tom Molyneux | Lighting Designer: John Collopy | Set Designer: Nathan Burmeister | Costume Designer: Samantha Hastings | Stage & Production Manager: Jacinta Anderson | Sound Designer: Justin Gardam
The Importance of Being Earnest
fortyfivedownstairs, 45 Flinders Lane, Melbourne
Season: 2 – 11 August 2024 (preview: 1 August)
Bookings: www.fortyfivedownstairs.com
For more information, visit: www.bloomshed.org for details.
Image: Bloomshed presents The Importance of Being Earnest – photo by Cameron Grant