Dinner & A Book - The Importance of Being Earnest

Oscar Wilde’s frothy play, The Importance of Being Earnest, is a witty send-up of the Gilded Age in the British 1890s. During the same years that Wilde’s play was being staged, here in South Bend, Indiana, industrialist James Oliver was having a 38-room stone mansion, Copshaholm, built for his family – complete with elaborate oak, cherry, and mahogany woodwork that also epitomized this “gilded” time for the newly monied. April Lidinsky welcomes Aaron Nichols, Executive Director of the South Bend Civic Theatre for a look at Copshaholm, Wilde’s biting wit and social commentary and a Gilded Age-inspired tea.

Original Airdate: June 14, 2025

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