Comedy in three acts by Oscar Wilde
Translation: Alexandru Alcalay and Sima Zamfir

Artistic director: Farkas Ştefan and Jean Sandulescu
Scenography: Maria Haţeganu
Premiere date: April 19, 1970

The comedy "What It Means to Be Honest" develops the parallel stories of two young English gentlemen. Jack Worthing, a foundling and adopted by a nobleman, leads a double life, being known as a respectable and responsible young man on his Hertfordshire estate; for years, he claims to have a brother named Ernest in London, who leads a scandalous life, dedicated exclusively to pleasure. In reality, Ernest is just an alibi that allows Jack to go to the capital whenever he wants, probably to lead the same kind of life that he criticizes in the case of his imaginary brother.

His best friend, Algernon Montcrieff, charming, witty, and intelligent, has invented a friend named Bunbury, whose fluctuating health allows him to evade unpleasant or boring social obligations.

Things get complicated when the two are involved in intersecting love stories: Jack is in love with Gwendolen, Algernon's cousin, who in turn is in love with Cecily, Jack's ward. The game of false identities risks becoming dangerous, as both girls dream of marrying a man named Ernest (Honest), who inspires them with absolute trust. The only hope of the two suitors is the priest Chasuble, to whom they turn on the same day to be baptized Ernest. The appearance of Lady Bracknell, Gwendolen's mother, and Miss Prism, Cecily's governess, triggers a chain of revelations, blackmails and revelations, as a result of which it turns out that the two gentlemen are brothers and that nothing stands in the way of the happiness of the two couples. In the frenzy of finding his identity, of resolving the situation full of secrets and miraculous discoveries, Jack confesses that he understood "what it means to be Honest.".

Distribution:

John Worthing:  Ion Abrudan
Algernon Montcriff:  George Stana
Chasuble:  Octavian Uleu
Marryman:  Grig Schiţcu
Lane:  Corneliu Zdrehus
Lady Brecknell:  Olympia Tomorrow
Gwendolen:  Gina Nicolae
Cecily:  Andra Teodorescu
Miss Prism:  Maud Mary, Doina Ioja

Technical director: Elena Varlam
Prompter: Geta Barosan