T-R PHOTO BY ROBERT MAHARRY The cast of the MHS Drama production “The Importance of Being Earnest” poses for a photo at the Marshalltown Performing Arts Center on Wednesday night. The show will be performed at the Performing Arts Center on Friday, Nov. 14 and Saturday, Nov. 15 at 7 p.m.

As Class of 2010 Marshalltown High School alum and current assistant auditorium manager Daniel Abens prepared to direct his first solo production at the school, he simply chose his all-time favorite play: “The Importance of Being Earnest,” Oscar Wilde’s beloved satire of aristocrats in Victorian England.

“I saw it when I was quite young, but despite some of the deep cut humor of Victorian England, I still thought it was so funny,” he said. “And with the state of the world, I just want to do comedies.”

The show, he added, paints members of high society as “ridiculous, vapid people,” and he told his cast early on that they weren’t playing heroes. The two main characters, Algernon and Jack, live double lives — one in the country and one in town — and pretend to be the same man named Ernest. In an especially fitting twist, Jack and Algernon are played by identical twin brothers Dylan and Ryder Ambrose, and they pursue Cecily and Gwendolyn (Layla Wimberley and Ella Reynolds) until they eventually learn the truth.

The actors enjoyed the chance to dive into their characters and inhabit a completely different time period complete with fancy outfits and British accents. Ryder Ambrose joked that as Algernon, it was easy to slip into the shoes of someone who “rage baits” someone else constantly and makes him “fume at the mouth” with his banter.

“The outfit is nice except that it feels like I’m actively melting on the stage,” Reynolds said.

The big twist at the end is that the two men, who are friends, are actually brothers, so they even decided to add a line making reference to the real-life twins that the audience will have to see for themselves during one of the show’s two performances — Friday and Saturday night at 7 p.m. at the Marshalltown Performing Arts Center.

Abens also spoke highly of Dominic Juarez, who portrays the legendary Lady Bracknell, and noted that she gets the final curtain call. He’s excited for the opportunity to direct the show and hopes to see a strong turnout both nights.

“It’s been a trip to see how things have changed and how things have stayed the same,” he said. “Shout out to our fundraising for updates to the space, so I’m excited for that. But it’s been really interesting being back.”

Tickets can be purchased for $8 at the door or $7 online. The link for the Friday night show is https://tinyurl.com/scnssy29, and the link for the Saturday night show is https://tinyurl.com/4nesadcx.

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Contact Robert Maharry at 641-753-6611 ext. 255 or rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.