THEATER REVIEWS : ‘EARNEST’ AND THE ONE-ACTS : First-Class Shows : Two college campuses offer stage productions this weekend that deserve high marks.

It’s been mentioned here before that some of the consistently best theater in Ventura County can be seen on local college campuses, notably Cal Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks and Moorpark College in . . . Moorpark.

This weekend offers an opportunity to sample both theater departments, as Cal Lutheran is presenting a worthy version of Oscar Wilde’s comedy “The Importance of Being Earnest,” and Moorpark College offers the latest edition of its semiannual Student One-Act Play Festival.

The Moorpark production is the more ambitious, covering much ground (physically as well as intellectually) as it moves the audience from one performance space to another, from Edward Albee’s “Zoo Story” to Woody Allen’s “God.” There are three less well-known one-acts as well, plus a buffet dinner of barbecued chicken and tri-tip and a dessert course, served separately at the student cafeteria. The whole event lasts well over three hours and is not recommended to the wheelchair-bound, though access is theoretically possible.

“The Importance of Being Earnest,” on the other hand, is just a play--albeit one that’s regarded in some circles as among the funniest in the English language.

Though all of the one-act plays in the Moorpark Festival are directed and acted by students, only one is an original: Douglas Hill’s unfortunately named “Six Authors in Search of a Character.” The reference to Pirandello’s “Six Characters in Search of an Author” is misleading; there’s no connection other than that Hill’s comedy--a skit, really--does indeed feature a cast of six.

Although all of them are arguably characters, none is an author. Instead, we follow a job applicant as he meets various executives at the Silicone Systems corporation. The piece is amusing enough and compares favorably to much of what’s seen on “Saturday Night Live.” Watch especially for Dave Beech, portraying a cigar-smoking, no-nonsense kind of a guy. Hill also directs.

Eddie de Santis’ “Recensio” is more problematical. It shows two characters, childhood friends, as romance blossoms and fades between them. Occasionally, one of the actors plays another character: a parent or a child. Jenny Jeffries and Sammy Pierce are fine under the direction of Todd Ciaciuch, though Jeffries is advised to tone down her squeaky-voiced characterization as she gets older. Temporal transitions are supposed to be signaled by dimming lights, which were so subtle at Friday’s opening that they were virtually unnoticeable--making the play more confusing than it needs to be.

This weekend’s audience may be given the choice of attending either of two simultaneous third performances, “Zoo Story” directed by John Mulhall or Don Nigro’s “Scarecrow” directed by Andra White.

It’s always good to see Albee performed, and Douglas Hill is quite good as the wacko who accosts Wendell Hill (also fine, in a lesser role) on a New York City park bench. But miss the Gothic drama “Scarecrow” and you’ll miss the strongest performance and possibly the most interesting play of the evening.

Dana Harris stars as Cally, an 18-year-old who lives with her mother (Kelly Gleghorn) on a rural farm. Cally’s daily visits to a scarecrow terrify mother Rose, who knows a “Terrible Secret.” The audience figures things out long before Cally does, but that’s all part of the fun. And Harris’ intense performance may be the evening’s highlight.

Which is not to dismiss the evening-ending “God,” Woody Allen’s hilarious homage to both “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” and the Marx Brothers. This one, directed by James Montante and Kimberly Sumpter, takes place in ancient Greece, sort of, and involves characters named Hepatitis, Diabetes, Trichinosis and Bursitis, among others.

It’s a play-within-a-play, into which wander Zeus, Blanche Dubois (straight out of “A Streetcar Named Desire”) and one Doris Levine from Encino, among others.

Playwright Allen waxes philosophic, though wittily so--there’s a resemblance to his dissection of Russian literature in the movie “Love and Death.” The heavy thinking never interferes with Allen’s knockabout humor.

Justin Boyce plays playwright Hepatitis relatively deadpan, Brian Rood is quite Woody-like as slave/actor Diabetes, and Yvonne Green wildly overplays Jewish-American Princess Doris Levine--as was, evidently, Allen’s intention.

Updating and inserting local references (in the original, for instance, Doris is from Great Neck, Long Island) works better some places than others--the Los Angeles Rapid Transit District is hardly a parallel to New York’s subway.

*

Wilde’s “The Importance of Being Earnest” dates back to the turn of the century and holds up very well. It is set among the British upper-classes (always an easy target); the situation, absurd; and the wordplay, consistently witty. These characters may have too much free time on their hands, but they are educated and bright.

Sam Cooper and Rob O’Neill play John Worthing and Algernon Moncrieff, two young friends in pursuit of a good time generally and romance, specifically.

Worthing has invented a nonexistent brother, Ernest, in order to justify frequent trips to London from his country home. City-dwelling Moncrieff, the less responsible of the two, attempts to pass himself off as Ernest, without Worthing’s knowledge, in an attempt to romance his friend’s ward, Cecily. High jinks ensue, with a final plot twist straight out of Dickens--or Gilbert & Sullivan.

The principals are good, if maybe a bit stiff on opening night, with fine supporting performances by Kelly Colwell as Cecily; Justine Skeeles as Worthing’s betrothed, the snooty Gwendolyn Fairfax; Deanna Milsap as Gwendolyn’s dogmatic mother, and Deanna Serago as Cecily’s governess.

The cast’s fine third tier includes Aaron Peter as a flirtatious clergyman and Eric Bennett as both Moncrieff’s and Worthing’s butlers--the efficient Lane and doddering Merriman, respectively.

Directed by theater department chairman Michael Arndt, the play is being staged at Cal Lutheran’s intimate Little Theater--where those close to the stage must stay alert at all times, in order to avoid being struck by low-flying epigrams.

* WHERE AND WHEN

* The Student One-Act Play Festival continues Friday through Sunday at Moorpark College, 7075 Campus Road, Moorpark. The shows begin at the Forum Theater, each night at 6. Tickets are $14 for adults, and $9 for students, staff and seniors. A concurrent (and unreviewed) selection of youth-oriented one-acts is being presented at 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at the Forum Theater; general admission is $3. For reservations or information, call 378-1468.

* “The Importance of Being Earnest” continues tonight through Sunday at Cal Lutheran University’s Little Theater, 60 W. Olsen Road, Thousand Oaks. Performances are at 8 tonight through Saturday, with a 2 p.m. matinee on Sunday. Admission is $5; free with Cal Lutheran identification. For reservations or information, call 493-3151.