who played Algernon Moncrieff, recalled to Hesketh Pearson that "In my fifty-three years of acting, I never remember a greater triumph than [that] first night". Aynesworth was himself "debonair and stylish", and Alexander, who played Jack Worthing, "demure". The cast was: John Worthing, J.P. – George Alexander Algernon Moncrieff – Allan Aynesworth Rev. Canon Chasuble, D.D. – H. H. Vincent Merriman – Frank Dyall Lane – F. Kinsey Peile Lady Bracknell – Rose Leclercq Hon. Gwendolen Fairfax – Irene Vanbrugh Cecily Cardew – Evelyn Millard Miss Prism – Mrs. George Canninge The Marquess of Queensberry, the father of Wilde's lover Lord Alfred Douglas (who was on holiday in Algiers at the time), had planned to disrupt the play by throwing a bouquet of rotten vegetables at the playwright when he took his bow at the end of the show. Wilde and Alexander learned of the plan, and the latter cancelled Queensberry's ticket and arranged for policemen to bar his entrance. Nevertheless, he continued harassing Wilde, who eventually launched a private prosecution against the peer for criminal libel, triggering a series of trials ending in Wilde's imprisonment for gross indecency. Alexander tried, unsuccessfully, to save the production by removing Wilde's name from the billing,, but the play had to close after only 86 performances. The play's original Broadway production opened at the Empire Theatre on 22 April 1895 but closed after sixteen performances. Its cast included William Faversham as Algy, Henry Miller as Jack, Viola Allen as Gwendolen, and Ida Vernon as Lady Bracknell. The Australian premiere was in Melbourne on 10 August 1895, presented by Dion Boucicault Jr. and Robert Brough, and the play was an immediate success. Wilde's downfall in England did not affect the popularity of his plays in Australia. Critical reception In contrast to much theatre of the time, the light plot of The Importance of Being Earnest does not seem to tackle serious social and political issues, something contemporary reviewers were wary of. Though unsure of Wilde's seriousness as a dramatist, they recognised the play's cleverness, humour, and popularity with audiences. Shaw, for example, reviewed the play in the Saturday Review, arguing that comedy should touch as well as amuse, "I go to the theatre to be moved to laughter." Later in a letter, he said the play, though "extremely funny", was Wilde's "first really heartless [one]". In The World, William Archer wrote that he had