Importance of Not Being Too ‘Earnest’

It’s a given. Oscar Wilde’s “The Importance of Being Earnest” is an intensely mannered piece, requiring absolute precision of diction and timing. However, once these rigors are mastered, “Earnest” should relax into the cheerfully nonsensical fluff it’s meant to be.

The production at Actors’ Co-op--which follows Robert A. Prior’s gender-bending “Earnest” at Glaxa and precedes another at La Jolla--is far too earnest to be much fun.

The enormous picture frame that surrounds the proscenium (with a picture of Victoria herself glowering overhead) announces director Mark D. Kaufmann’s intentions of affording the audience a vintage peep into the theatrical conventions of another era. (To augment the effect, the actors occasionally step into the “limelight”--a charming effect by lighting designer Alan Falkner.)

Yet, in unfortunate contrast to Prior’s vividly cartoonish romp at Glaxa, this production remains as flat and lifeless as a Victorian tintype. Here, the performers focus more on enunciation than meaning, seldom delving beneath the prevalent artifice to the specifics of character. As a result, Kaufmann’s staging seems strangely generic--and although the dead air of the first act ultimately gives way to some genuinely gusty laughs, much of Wilde’s essential breeziness is misplaced along the way.

* “The Importance of Being Earnest,” Actors Co-op at the Crossley Theatre, 1760 N. Gower St., Hollywood. Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 2:30 p.m. Matinees this Saturday, May 24 and June 7, 2:30 p.m. Ends June 8. $15. (213) 964-3586. Running time: 2 hours, 30 minutes.