L'importanza di chiamarsi Ernesto - Compagnia G.o.D.o.T. - Compagnia G.o.D.o.T.

The original title The Importance of Being Earnest has a perfectly untranslatable double meaning: it means both “The importance of being Ernest” and “The importance of being honest/serious”. In fact, in English, the proper name Ernest (Ernesto) is pronounced in exactly the same way as earnest (serious, honest, sincere, reliable). Wilde plays on the fact that the characters of the comedy are far from honest (they are indeed liars and superficial), but they call themselves "Ernest" (or pretend to do so) to appear reliable and respectable. Brilliant, ironic and irresistibly current, The Importance of Being Earnest is the masterpiece with which Oscar Wilde unmasks, through the game of comedy, the hypocrisies and contradictions of society. Between invented identities, sentimental misunderstandings and lightning-fast dialogues, the protagonists move in a world dominated by appearances, where social prestige matters more than truth and love itself seems to be subject to the rules of good morals. Jack Worthing and Algernon Moncrieff lead a double life to escape the conventions of Victorian respectability, giving rise to a whirlwind of paradoxical and irresistibly comical situations. But behind the light rhythm of the comedy and the sophistication of the paradox, Wilde constructs a lucid and pungent critique of a society incapable of authenticity. With his elegant and sharp writing, Wilde transforms the theater into a deforming mirror capable of revealing the ridicule hidden behind social conformism, the cult of appearances and bourgeois moralism. The G.o.D.o.T. Company stages the most famous comedy of the greatest Irish writer, poet and playwright, whose writing has the same bursting force as the classical Greek authors, such as Aristophanes, that we usually choose. A lively, elegant and satirical show, where laughter becomes an instrument of freedom and Wilde's lightness proves capable, even today, of questioning the conventions of society and the masks with which we choose to live. (Vittorio Bonaccorso)

Plot: Jack Worthing is in love with Gwendolen, but her mother, the stern Lady Bracknell, opposes the marriage when she discovers that he is a foundling. To justify his escapes from the countryside, Jack invented the existence of a reckless brother named Ernest. His friend Algernon discovers the secret. Deception in the countryside: Algernon goes to Jack's country estate and pretends to be his brother Ernest, ending up winning the heart of Cecily, Jack's pupil. Cecily is also obsessed with the name Ernest. When Jack returns announcing the "death" of his brother, the situation degenerates with the arrival of Gwendolen. The two women discover the deception but decide to forgive their boyfriends when they realize that both are really called Ernest. The riddle is solved thanks to Cecily's housekeeper, who recognizes the same lost bag in the bag where Jack was found as a baby, revealing that he is Algernon's older brother. His real name is Ernest.