Ridiculous situations, witty characters, humorous love stories, and a fake brother named Ernest are all part of the theatre department’s “The Importance of Being Earnest” that opens Thursday night.

Based on the story written by Oscar Wilde, this British comedy bring a different kind of humor to this generation (it takes place in the 1890’s).

Ernest Worthing, who gets into “the most dreadful scrapes”, is a fake persona created by Jack Worthing. When he tells his witty friend Algernon “Algy” Moncrieff, Algy takes advantage of the scam in order to meet and propose to Jack’s beautiful ward, Cecily Cardew. All of this happens in the midst of Jack trying to propose to Gwendolyn (Algy’s cousin) but being delayed by her mother, Lady Bracknell. Horridly amusing situations ensue when Algy shows up at Jack’s place in the country simultaneously with Lady Bracknell and Gwendolyn.  The problem: Cecily and Gwendolyn believe they are both engaged to a man named Ernest, when neither of them actually is.  If it sounds confusing, that’s because it is.  But that’s where the humor comes from.

“Rehearsals have been a blast. We haven’t gone a day without laughing at the interesting character choices we’ve all been making,” senior Nathan Thorley said. “The one problem we’re experiencing is memorization. There’s a lot of lines and we’ve only been at it for three weeks.”

With a hilarious ensemble cast, this show is bound to be entertaining to all audience members.

“The show is a lot of fun,” said sophomore Haley Brown. “I would encourage everyone to come see it.”

“The Importance of Being Earnest” will hit the stage Thursday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m.  Ticket prices are $7 for students and $10 for adults.