Have you ever told a little white lie to make yourself look good? How about making up a fake sibling that you “have to go take care of” so you can run off, pretend to be that fake sibling, shirk your responsibilities, and come off as a kind and self-sacrificing sibling?

In The Importance of Being Earnest (1895), that’s exactly what happens, and chaos ensues when the lies start to be uncovered! In fact, while two of the play’s main characters pretend to be named Ernest, we come to see that none of the characters is truly earnest in nature. Oscar Wilde used this comedic play to poke fun at the way he saw Victorian society value appearing good over actually being good.

Oscar Wilde wrote The Importance of Being Earnest late in the Victorian Era (1837–1901). This time period was marked by very strict morals and societal expectations. Wilde actively spoke against the ruling norms of the time, arguing that much of the moral posturing of high society was trivial and hypocritical rather than sincere.

Artistic Synergy of Baltimore (ASoB) is a 501(c) community theater, founded in 2012 as a company of local performers with a love for theater and a dream of building a space where seasoned performers could work with and teach new performers, where different genres of performance could be explored, and where new performers could practice and hone their craft.

We aim to produce quality theatrical entertainment, throughout the year, featuring performers of all ages, races, backgrounds, and performance and/or technical experiences. We strive to achieve this by choosing plays and musicals that interest a wide variety of the Baltimore theater community and we sincerely hope you enjoy our performances.