he Importance of Being Earnest is one of the most performed plays of all time. It is light and frothy humor with bold characters. Oscar Wilde is a satirical and comic genius. In contrast (about as much of a contrast as you can get) The Cherry Orchard and Anton Checkov are EXTREMELY influential in the history of theatre and dramatic literature. One of the reasons they are important is because the director of Checkov’s plays was none other than Stanislavsky. (Google him, you get some valuable info) He was the director who developed the acting method called, oddly enough,”The method.” This extremely realistic acting method also influenced acting school here in the United States. His method basically dealt with total immersion into the psychological makeup of a character drawing upon the actor’s personal experiences. No one had done this to this extent before. Both he and Checkov influenced each other greatly and created the type of theatre which would go on to influence American film greatly. ( Joaquin Phoenix in his role in the film Joker is a great example of this style of acting.). Acting Checkov is considered one of an actor’s most challenging experiences.
Your question for this week is slightly more complex and will need lots of support information (lines and action) from the plays themselves.
Compare and contrast the characters in these two plays. Discuss not only how they are vastly different from each other but also how the characters influence, contribute and determine the different genres of these two playwrights and their plays. This essay may necessarily be a bit longer than your others and will count for more points. Be sure and spend extra time constructing your essays, as well as including extra quotes to support your ideas.
Norton Anthology of Drama (SET Vol 1 & 2)