Lanikai Actor Transforms Into Lady Bracknell For ‘Earnest’ Play

HPU’s Paul and Vi Loo Theatre in Kaneohe will come alive April 6 with Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest.

Set in late Victorian London, this play marked the highlight of Wilde’s career. Richard Bragdon and Duncan Dalzell play John (Jack) Worthington and Algernon Moncrieff, two men who create new identities to pursue Gwendolyn Fairfax and Cecily Cardrew, played by Sara Cate Langham and Lacey Perrine Chu, as well as cope with the disapproval of Gwendolyn’s mother Lady Bracknell, played by Mitchell Milan of Lanikai.

Lady Bracknell

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Mitchell Milan after, as Lady Bracknell. Photos from Terry Olival.

Other cast members include Virginia Jones as Miss Prism, Larry Bialock as Rev. Canon Chasuble, John Hunt as manservant Lane, and Svein Erik Giskegjerde as butler Merriman.

Milan, a Lanikai resident with a long theater resume, has returned to Hawaii to play these multiple roles in the timeless classic, directed by Joyce Maltby. He previously starred in HPU’s production of Moliere’s The Miser, and also directed Maltby and Don Pomes in HPU’s The Gin Game.

Besides Milan, Wind-ward talents in the show include Jones, Hunt, Maltby and publicist Terry Olival.

The Importance of Being Earnest runs from April 6 to May 6. Showtimes are Thursdays at 7:30 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 4 p.m. Tickets are $25 general admission, $15 for seniors, military, students and HPU faculty, and $5 for HPU students. Other discounts are available for Thursday performances.

For details and reservations, call 375-1282.