Review: While occasionally a battle of cicadas vs. stanzas, Oak Park’s outdoor theater series aces acting
<p>In its 51st season, the <a class="Link" href="https://oakparkfestival.com/" target="_blank" >Oak Park Festival Theatre</a> stages two outdoor plays in rotating repertory for the first time. But the programming choices couldn’t be more famous or opposite in tone: “Hamlet” and “The Importance of Being Earnest.”</p><p>In two creditable, engaging classic productions — one appropriately moving, the other appropriately funny — the works come off as strangely complementary.</p><p>“’Seems,’ madam?
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<p>In its 51st season, the <a class="Link" href="https://oakparkfestival.com/" target="_blank" >Oak Park Festival Theatre</a> stages two outdoor plays in rotating repertory for the first time. But the programming choices couldn’t be more famous or opposite in tone: “Hamlet” and “The Importance of Being Earnest.”</p><p>In two creditable, engaging classic productions — one appropriately moving, the other appropriately funny — the works come off as strangely complementary.</p><p>“’Seems,’ madam? I know not ‘seems’,” insists Drew Bos’s passionately earnest Hamlet in the opening scene of Shakespeare’s always-potent portrait of the conflicted young prince.</p><p>Compare that with how the knowing young Gwendolyn (Sonia Goldberg) embraces “seeming” in Oscar Wilde’s wit-fest about society and courtship as a never-ending show: “In matters of grave importance, style, not sincerity, is the vital thing.”</p><div class="Enhancement" data-align-center> <div class="Enhancement-item" data-crop=""> <figure class="Figure"><a class="AnchorLink" id="image-e10000" name="image-e10000"></a> <picture data-crop="medium"> <source type="image/webp" width="490" height="275" data-srcset="https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/49dce7d/2147483647/strip/true/crop/8192x4598+0+433/resize/490x275!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F6b%2Fe2%2F1b8471f843fb88979a12aa147c90%2F2026-opft-earnest-chad-bay-sonia-goldberg-photo-by-josh-darr.jpg 1x,https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/5fb8e8e/2147483647/strip/true/crop/8192x4598+0+433/resize/980x550!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F6b%2Fe2%2F1b8471f843fb88979a12aa147c90%2F2026-opft-earnest-chad-bay-sonia-goldberg-photo-by-josh-darr.jpg 2x" data-lazy-load="true" srcset="data:image/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciIHZlcnNpb249IjEuMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIyNzVweCIgd2lkdGg9IjQ5MHB4Ij48L3N2Zz4=" /> <source width="490" height="275" data-srcset="https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/c34b43b/2147483647/strip/true/crop/8192x4598+0+433/resize/490x275!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F6b%2Fe2%2F1b8471f843fb88979a12aa147c90%2F2026-opft-earnest-chad-bay-sonia-goldberg-photo-by-josh-darr.jpg" data-lazy-load="true" srcset="data:image/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciIHZlcnNpb249IjEuMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIyNzVweCIgd2lkdGg9IjQ5MHB4Ij48L3N2Zz4=" /> <img class="Image" alt="2026-OPFT-Earnest_ Chad Bay + Sonia Goldberg; photo by Josh Darr.jpg" srcset="https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/c34b43b/2147483647/strip/true/crop/8192x4598+0+433/resize/490x275!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F6b%2Fe2%2F1b8471f843fb88979a12aa147c90%2F2026-opft-earnest-chad-bay-sonia-goldberg-photo-by-josh-darr.jpg 1x,https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/6812d70/2147483647/strip/true/crop/8192x4598+0+433/resize/980x550!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F6b%2Fe2%2F1b8471f843fb88979a12aa147c90%2F2026-opft-earnest-chad-bay-sonia-goldberg-photo-by-josh-darr.jpg 2x" width="490" height="275" data-src="https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/c34b43b/2147483647/strip/true/crop/8192x4598+0+433/resize/490x275!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F6b%2Fe2%2F1b8471f843fb88979a12aa147c90%2F2026-opft-earnest-chad-bay-sonia-goldberg-photo-by-josh-darr.jpg" data-lazy-load="true" src="data:image/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciIHZlcnNpb249IjEuMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIyNzVweCIgd2lkdGg9IjQ5MHB4Ij48L3N2Zz4=" > </picture> <div class="Figure-content"><figcaption class="Figure-caption"><p>Actors Chad Bay and Sonia Goldberg are in among the cast members in “The Importance of Being Earnest” by Oak Park Festival Theatre. </p></figcaption><span class="line"></span><div class="Figure-credit"><p>Photo by Josh Darr</p></div></div> </figure> </div> </div><div class="RatingCard Enhancement" data-module data-rating="3.0" data-align-center> <div class="RatingCard-title"> The Importance of Being Earnest </div> <div class="RatingCard-content"> <span class="RatingCard-star"> <span class="RatingCard-star-full"> <svg class=""> <use xlink:href="#icon-star"></use> </svg> </span> <span class="RatingCard-star-half"> <svg class=""> <use xlink:href="#icon-star"></use> </svg> </span> </span> <span class="RatingCard-star"> <span class="RatingCard-star-full"> <svg class=""> <use xlink:href="#icon-star"></use> </svg> </span> <span class="RatingCard-star-half"> <svg class=""> <use xlink:href="#icon-star"></use> </svg> </span> </span> <span class="RatingCard-star"> <span class="RatingCard-star-full"> <svg class=""> <use xlink:href="#icon-star"></use> </svg> </span> <span class="RatingCard-star-half"> <svg class=""> <use xlink:href="#icon-star"></use> </svg> </span> </span> <span class="RatingCard-star"> <span class="RatingCard-star-full"> <svg class=""> <use xlink:href="#icon-star"></use> </svg> </span> <span class="RatingCard-star-half"> <svg class=""> <use xlink:href="#icon-star"></use> </svg> </span> </span> </div> </div><p></p><div class="RichTextSidebarModule Enhancement" data-module data-align-center><a class="AnchorLink" id="module-3f0000" name="module-3f0000"></a> <div class="RichTextModule-items RichTextBody"><b>When:</b> Through Aug.
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- <p>In its 51st season, the <a class="Link" href="https://oakparkfestival.com/" target="_blank" >Oak Park Festival Theatre</a> stages two outdoor plays in rotating repertory for the first time. But the programming choices couldn’t be more famous or opposite in tone: “Hamlet” and “The Importance of Being Earnest.”</p><p>In two creditable, engaging classic productions — one appropriately moving, the other appropriately funny — the works come off as strangely complementary.</p><p>“’Seems,’ madam?
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Review: While occasionally a battle of cicadas vs. stanzas, Oak Park’s outdoor theater series aces acting
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