Page 18 - 2018 Festival Edition

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An honest approach to Wilde’s comedy
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AN IDEAL HUSBAND
ABILITY CHOICE FREEWILL OPPORTUNITY LIBERTY RELEASE REDEMPTION ABILITY CHOICE FREEWILL OPPORTUNITY LIBERTY RELEASE REDEMPTION
JONATHAN JUHA
Sta Reporter
When trying to make people laugh in a play, you have to be honest with yourself, the script and the audience, says renowned actress Bahareh Yaraghi.
“Comedy comes from honesty,” she said.
“As soon as you try to be funny on stage, that’s when it flops, and that’s a very early lesson you learn as an actor. So the more truthful you are about what you are saying, and the more you use the language and depend on the text, it really shows you how ef- fortless comedy can be.”
And trusting the text was precisely the approach Yaraghi took as she prepared for the role of Mrs. Laura Cheveley in this year’s rendition of Oscar Wilde’s An Ideal Husband.
A process made easier only by Wilde’s genius, Yaraghi added.
“Oscar Wilde is known for his witticism, for his re- marks and for his razor-sharp commentary and use of the language,” she said.
“And in this play, the comedy really comes from him and the intelligence of what he’s saying; that’s
what makes it really delicious and juicy for us actors because it is just so smart.
“So in a way, he makes the actress’s job quite easy because he’s just one of those phenomenal writers.”
Always present in the back of any actor’s mind is the fact that, when going to see a play, the public expects to be entertained, especially when a play
is branded as a comedy, Yaraghi said. But if the rehearsals of An Ideal Husband’s cast can be used as reference, that can almost be seen as a given, she added.
Comedy comes from honesty
“We are having a really good time because we are making each other laugh, so you know that the comedy is there.”
Though commonly regarded as a comedy, Yaraghi also believes the uniqueness of the play comes from its complexity, especially exemplified in the mean-
ingful topics and issues it explores.
Particularly stimulating for actors and audiences,
she added, is how both the dramatic and the humor- ous are present in every passage of the play.
“One of the biggest challenges is to play those two worlds of comedy and drama because they both ex- ist and that is not always easy to do,” she said.
“This is a play that deals with profound issues; it is a play that examines political marriage and hon- esty and integrity and morality . . . but there is also romance and di erent storylines that collide . . . and such is life as well.”
But despite her reliance and trust in Wilde’s script, as in any play, Yaraghi says there are other key elements actors need to keep in mind to “bring home” a play like this.
continued on page 19
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THE BEACON HERALD | 2018 FESTIVAL EDITION
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