The Importance of Being Ernest (Stratford Festival)

This Series provides a permanent record of some of the great plays and performances of recent and distant history, featuring many of Canada's outstanding senior actors.The Stratford Festival of Canada is one of our country's preeminent theatrical summer festivals attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors from around the globe. CBC Audio, in collaboration with the Stratford Festival, chose the best performances to be produced at the Glenn Gould Theatre in CBC's Broadcasting Centre.In the intimate setting of Glenn Gould Studio, audiences have the unprecedented opportunity to look behind the scenes in the creation of radio drama. Words, music, sound effects and, most importantly, audience participation, combine to create the finest dramatic readings.CBC's Stratford Reading Performances also feature original and professionally performed music.To mark the centenary of Wilde's death, the Stratford Festival of Canada staged this unique production of the original, complete four-act version of his famous play. This does not replace the well-known three-act version, but does give the audience an opportunity to enjoy the play that Wilde originally wrote, with its extra characters, more pointed social commentary, additional scenes and new dialogue. This play remains perhaps Wilde's wittiest and most loved romantic comedy.