Oscar Wilde’s most famous play, The Importance of Being Earnest, has a subtitle: A Trivial Comedy for Serious People.

In a time of strife, trivial comedy is just what people need. Even better is a play that mocks the well-to-do who are never serious (at least in Wilde’s point of view).

The Encore Theatre, usually a musical theater, makes way for an energetic, well-choreographed, and expertly staged presentation of Wilde’s masterpiece.

When Jack Worthing is in the country, he’s Jack; when he’s in the city, he is his imaginary brother Ernest so he can sample a bit of London’s wild pleasures. His friend Algernon Moncrieff is a London playboy who enjoys the nightlife of the big city, but when he wants to avoid boring social commitments, he tells people he has to visit his invalid cousin, the imaginary Bunbury.

Jack is in love with Gwendolen. Gwendolen is in love with Jack because she thinks his name is Ernest. With a name like Ernest, he must be earnest, responsible, honest, and kind. Her mother, Lady Bracknell, isn’t so sure.

Algernon discovers where Jack’s country estate is and invites himself for the weekend. There he meets Jack’s ward, Cecily, and immediately falls in love with the innocent young woman.

Wilde’s play has twists, turns, and Gilbert-and-Sullivan-style shocking revelations, keeping all his characters in a constant dither.

Director Vincent J. Cardinal keeps Earnest in motion with exaggerated posing, pitch-perfect upper-crusty English, and rounds of verbal tennis. Without the physical approach Cardinal brings to the staging, Earnest can get a bit dry. But the movement drives the dialogue, and the actors bring a constant energy to Wilde’s “silly” play.

For the audience, the initial draw is Fred Grandy, a star on the hit TV show The Love Boat. Last year, Grandy and two other Love Boat alums, Ted Lange and Jill Whelan, performed in I’m Not Rappaport at The Encore Theatre. This year, Grandy plays the role of Lady Bracknell. The part is so full of snappy humor, haughty pretentiousness, and closely held secrets that men and women alike have been eager to take on the formidable role. Grandy gives an amusing portrayal with a snooty nose and a shuffling walk that draws audience giggles.

But this is really a play about young love, swagger, and excellent English. This cast has it down pat, and Cardinal keeps them moving.

Jackson Reagin gets the most athletic role as Jack Worthing. Whether sliding across the stage, jesting with Algernon, or trembling before Lady Bracknell, Reagin plays Jack as a man in a hurry and under stress. His Jack is funny and constantly agitated.

Caleb McArthur is the city veteran Algernon. He’s effete, devious, and conniving, but McArthur plays him as charming despite all of that. Algeron, with his quips, strut, and city smarts, is probably most like Wilde himself, and McArthur gets it.

Maddie Dick is Gwendolen. She plays the girl who wants an earnest man and humorously makes her play despite her imperious mother. Dick makes the implausible seem just what an English lady would say.

Zuri Clarno plays the introspective, diary devotee Cecily, Jack’s ward. She captures both the spirit and naivete of Cecily. She moves very gracefully on stage.

Sarah B. Stevens is a gifted comic actress, and her performance here as Cecily’s governess is no exception. She twists her face into a wave of different emotions, and she does a pratfall with the best of them. Her chasing after the local minister is a classic.

John Bixler plays Jack’s stuffy but caustic butler and the frantic minister. He deftly makes the two characters completely different and equally amusing.

Hayden Steiner plays two roles as staff. He is deadpan funny in both roles, especially when it comes to handling luggage.

Sarah Tanner’s set designs bring to life the Edwardian age as represented in the two locations of the play, Algernon’s city house and Jack’s conservatory.

Wilde set out to make a play that is funny for funny’s sake. He succeeded at that, but the quips, gestures, and class distinctions show that even a lightweight comedy has something to say. Some of the quips have lost their effect, but a lot remain that still apply to our time.

Hugh Gallagher has written theater and film reviews over a 40-year newspaper career and was most recently the managing editor of the Observer & Eccentric Newspapers in suburban Detroit. 

The Encore Theatre presentation of Oscar Wilde’s "The Importance of Being Earnest" runs through May 4 at the Encore Theatre, 7714 Ann Arbor Street, Dexter. For ticket information, call 734-268-6200 or go to theencoretheatre.org.