STAGE REVIEW : Establishing Once Again the ‘Importance’ of Talent : Theater: With good acting, as in Blackfriars staging of Wilde’s classic, the rest is superfluous.

SAN DIEGO —  Blackfriars Theatre’s season opener, “The Importance of Being Earnest,” proves, once again, the importance of a good script and talented actors. This small, struggling theater can’t afford fancy sets or elaborate props. But it has talent to burn, which augurs well for the company’s recently announced emergence as a new entity--an ensemble theater.

It would certainly be a pleasure to see this cast of already familiar Blackfriars faces--Allison Brennan, Ralph Elias, Philip Charles Sneed, Erin Kelly, Marti Jo Pennisi and others--in other projects during the upcoming season.

“The Importance of Being Earnest” shows off the ensemble’s command of language and understanding of the intricacies of satirical farce. On its surface, the Wilde classic is a well-made romantic comedy about mistaken identities. At its heart, it is an attack on the hypocrisy of the upper classes. Under Elias’ direction, the actors, happily, get the barbs as well as the jokes--and that gives the confection its kick.

Jack Worthing (Sneed), a well-to-do young gentleman who lives in the country, has been telling his young ward, Cecily Cardew (Pennisi) that he has a wicked younger brother named Earnest whom he visits in the city. Once Jack is in the city, he himself pretends his name is Earnest.

In the city, Jack falls in love with Gwendolyn Fairfax (Kelly) and decides to confess that there is no Earnest, only to find that she is in love with him because his name is Earnest. Gwendolyn’s mother, Lady Bracknell (Brennan) also refuses to give her consent to the marriage until the question of Jack’s mysterious lineage is cleared up.

To further muddy matters, Jack’s friend, Algernon Moncrieff (Elias), decides to pay a secret call on Cecily, pretending he is the wicked Earnest--a name, it turns out, that Cecily also loves.

And, because in Wilde drama the plot is mere bread on which to spread the marmalade of banter, there is a constant flow of such Wildicisms as: “In matters of grave importance, style, not sincerity, is the vital thing” and “The General was essentially a man of peace except in his domestic life.”

Brennan comes close to stealing the show with her deliciously haughty take on Lady Bracknell, the self-appointed dragon of society. In another first-class performance, Sneed gets every bit of humor out of Jack by playing him with passionate seriousness.

Kelly, who has happily returned to the company after an absence of two years, exudes fire under Gwendolyn’s ice. Pennisi’s Cecily conveys not only the essence of innocent sweetness, she turns a pretty good cartwheel too (in Victorian dress!). Rebecca Nachison gives off the essence of prissy, repressed sensuality as a Governess With A Secret. And Elias, as the dandy Algernon, has fun with a part that gives him most of the good lines.

Beeb Salzer’s sets--more simple backdrops than anything else--are minimally suggestive without being either distracting or wonderful. J. A. Roth’s lighting design subtly aids the sense of scenery changing in the three acts. Lawrence Czoka’s jaunty sound design is an asset. But it is Stacey Rae’s costumes--particularly the busy flower-filled beribboned society hats for the women--that provides the color that establishes the place and the time.

Blackfriars’ has always been primarily an actors’ theater--run and managed by actors even in its early days when it was called the Bowery Theatre. “The Importance of Being Earnest” works not only on its own merits, but as a celebration of the talents of the actors who have informally been part of Blackfriars past and are now, more formally in their new ensemble arrangement, going to be part of its future.

“THE IMPORTANCE

OF BEING EARNEST”

By Oscar Wilde. Director is Ralph Elias. Sets by Beeb Salzer. Music and sound design by Lawrence Czoka. Lighting by J. A. Roth. Costumes by Stacey Rae. Production manager is Dan Halleck. Stage manager is Melissa Harte. With Ron Choularton, Ralph Elias, Philip Charles Sneed, Allison Brennan, Erin Kelly, Rebecca Nachison, Marti Jo Pennisi and John Steed. At 8 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays and 7 p.m. Sundays with Sunday matinees at 2 through Dec. 13. Tickets are $14-$18 depending on day of performance with discounts for seniors, students and groups. At the Bristol Court Playhouse, 1057 1st Ave., San Diego, 232-4088.