The lights went down and the applause faded away in 1974 when the Oscar Wilde comedy, “The Importance of Being Earnest,” was last performed by Des Moines-area performing group the Drama Workshop.

But one original cast member has returned to the play nearly 30 years later.

“The Importance of Being Earnest” will debut in the Stoner Studio Theater of the Des Moines Civic Center Friday night. The Drama Workshop is presenting this classic during the next two weekends to close its 50th anniversary season.

Jim Meade, who played the lead role of Jack in the Drama Workshop’s original production, will again grace the stage for this year’s show.

“It’s been a love affair for me,” Meade says. “It’s really a classic comedy that will be entertaining people forever.”

Meade began his “Earnest” career as the character of Jack when he was a senior in high school in 1962. He also played the same part in 1974, but will return this year as Dr. Chausable, an older character.

“I just graduated from being one of the younger couples to an older couple,” Meade says. “It was the only logical thing I could do. I felt almost compelled.”

Meade says his character’s personality in this performance has been difficult to pull off, but he enjoys the challenge.

“He’s sort of a simple-minded blowhard that you start to like,” he says. “You must find something in the character you’re playing to like and he’s really fun and slightly cartoonish. It’s one of my favorite roles that I’ve been in.”

“The Importance of Being Earnest” is about the quest of two upper-society English gentlemen, Jack and Algernon, as they try to court two ladies by assuming a different identity.

Since the play involves old British dialect, humor and the timelessness of pursuing relationships, director Paul Miller says he looked for actors who could communicate clearly and have the basic look of the characters.

“It’s full of wonderful language — very specific,” Miller says. “It was tough to find Iowans that can speak with such style, elegance and wit.”

The play’s producer, Mark Conley, says the cast, which ranges from a 16-year-old to a 60-year-old, has been instrumental in making the complicated storyline of the play work. “This is very tight, intricate and complicated in terms of relationships,” says Conley, who is an ISU alumnus. “There’s a really nice sense of ensemble among them.”

“[The language] is so brilliant that you have to rewind what was said sometimes in your head because you may have missed something,” Conley says.

Besides the language, each actor has also had to tackle another obstacle. The stage is set in a round, which seats the audience on all four sides. Since the scenes only change during the act breaks, Conley says the actors must make sure the audience can see the characters’ facial expressions at all times.

“The stage is very small, Conley says. “The actors have to be aware whenever they’re moving to be seen on all four sides.”

Conley says it’s this closeness with the audience that keeps him involved with live theater.

“When you look out into the audience, you can lock eyes with someone in the theater and direct a line to someone on stage and that’s kind of exciting,” Conley says. “There’s a more personal connection there.”