Little Lark of London

Recently, I had the chance to speak with Guido Garcia Lueches, a performer in The Importance of Being… Earnest?, which returns to Edinburgh Fringe after a successful run in 2022. The show, written by Josh King, Simon Paris, and Say It Again, Sorry?, is an interactive show in which the audience must take over as each cast member is unable to continue with the show. Will the show go on? Guido and I discussed how the show was created, what it is like to depend on audience interaction, and what it is like to be returning to the Fringe!

How did you first come up with the concept for The Importance of Being… Earnest?? 

We had been doing an interactive walkaround show for festivals, getting punters to paint our portraits and essentially create the art. We loved the concept of making the audience experience the centre of the piece so much that we asked ourselves the question: Could we actually get an audience to perform in a more traditional theatre show they have never rehearsed? 

This is us trying to answer that question.

What is it like creating a show that depends on audience interaction, especially one dependent on “controlled madness”?  

It takes a lot of very careful planning, of thinking of all the forks in the road the audience might take you down, and having contingencies for all sorts of potential shenanigans. And then having to throw all that out the window when they come up with things you wouldn’t ever have dreamed of. The chaos is never too far away, but that is part of the fun for us as well.

How do you combine your own work with that of Oscar Wilde in The Importance of Being… Earnest?? 

Well, in the original story of mistaken identity, Wilde treats us to a hilarious indictment of upper-class frivolity and the chaos that arises from deceit. This proves a gloriously fertile ground for our own story of mistaken identity and the chaos that unfurls when one of our actors doesn’t show up. It’s quite a delight to see these two stories happening in parallel, and what better way to conclude them both than celebrating our guest Earnest every day for being their most authentic self? I doubt Wilde would’ve seen this twist coming.

What is your role as both a performer and deviser like within The Importance of Being… Earnest??

My role in the room as an actor and deviser is to be as silly as I possibly can. Yes, there are a lot of conversations about dramaturgy happening all the time, and we have an excellent writing team & director who propose things, and later turn our silliness into an actual script, but a lot of what you see on stage comes from us playing together, figuring out how to make each other laugh, and just following our silliest instincts to their most absurd conclusion. It’s a dreamy way to workshop a play, to be honest, and once we have something we need to try on an audience, that’s where things get interesting. Then my role becomes both to act the part, but also to serve as a guide almost to the unsuspecting guest stars who join us on stage. It’s a fun line to walk.

What is it like to be returning to the Fringe this year?

We can’t wait! Had an exceptional time the last 2 years, and this year we come with a reworked show ready to embark on a big UK tour after the Fringe, and Edinburgh is the perfect launch pad. The audiences at the Fringe are glorious, and just the right party atmosphere that our show thrives in.

What do you hope audiences take away from The Importance of Being… Earnest??

A day of pure joy! Earnest is our love letter to live theatre, and a celebration of the shared experience any good theatre outing can be. And because the show doesn’t quite complete itself until the audience is onstage with us, we can guarantee you’re watching a unique and tailor-made show, which will probably be very different on any other given day. 

How would you describe The Importance of Being… Earnest? in one word? 

Mayhem.

The Importance of Being…Earnest? will be performed at the Edinburgh Festival at 4.40pm in Pleasance Courtyard (Beyond) from 2nd – 27th August. To book, visit https://www.pleasance.co.uk/event/importance-being-earnest

Following its Edinburgh run, The Importance of Being…Earnest? will embark on a 37-week tour, beginning in September 2023 and running right through to July 2024. Find out more at https://www.sayitagainsorry.co.uk/

Photo Credit: Michael Wharley