COMEDY OF MANNERS: Ryan Holcombe, left, and Maggie Gronenthal star in the Oscar Wilde play “The Importance of Being Earnest” at Kelsey Theatre through June 29.

Oscar Wilde’s farcical tale depicting the tangled affairs of two men-about-town leading double lives comes to the stage of Mercer County Community College’s Kelsey Theatre when Shakespeare ‘70 presents The Importance of Being Earnest June 20-29.

Wilde’s “trivial comedy for serious people,” now celebrating its 130th anniversary, remains as timely today as when it was first produced in 1895. The story involves two rakish young men, Jack Worthing and Algernon Moncrieff, who opt to navigate Victorian-era expectations of courtship simply by evading them. But when their personas and egos begin to collide, the pair get caught up in a wit-fueled whirlwind of mistaken identities and romantic snafus. In the end, the story reveals the absurd lengths that humans will go to in pursuit of acceptance, love, and truth.

Tickets are $20 and $22. For show times, visit kelseytheatre.org.