CAMP HILL, Pa. — Suspecting her husband of having an affair, the title character of "Lady Windermere's Fan" sits on the precipice of a major life decision as she explores her own morals in this Oscar Wilde comedy playing at the Oyster Mill Playhouse in Camp Hill.
"Life is very complex," said Sam Speraw, who portrays Lady Windermere. "Nothing is black and white."
"It's a satire," Anne Marino, who plays the Duchess of Berwick, said. "When you're dealing with a satire, you're kind of making everything broad. So the underlying story is about an affair, but more than that, it's about people and whether people are all good or all bad."
Cast members say those morals of Victorian England, while becoming blurred in the show, stand in ways 130 years later.
"Although we don't think it is nowadays, there are people who, very much, this is the way they do things, this is what they think, they don't even believe what other people are, what's true and not true," said Aliza Bardfield, who plays Mrs. Erlynne.
Cast members say that while they can dig in for the message, audience members can lean into enjoying the comedy first and foremost.
"This a different type of comedy," Bardfield said. "It's fun to follow."
And as the audience members follow, the cast hopes a message follows them home as well.
"Learning about someone, opening your mind, opening your heart," Bardfield said. "Lady Windermere is very much 'it's black and white, it's good or bad,' and she learns that, there's a lot of gray and a whole lot of colors of the rainbow."
Performances of Lady Windermere's Fan run through May 21. For more information, visit Oyster Mill Playhouse's website.