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STRATFORD, May 19, 2026 — The Importance of Being Earnest, Oscar Wilde’s dazzling comedy of manners, arrives at the Stratford Festival in a sparkling new production directed by Krista Jackson. Led by an extraordinary cast including Carter Gulseth as Algernon Moncrieff, Joe Perry as John Worthing and Fiona Reid as Lady Bracknell, this lavish staging transforms the Avon Theatre into a world of glamour, indulgence and irresistible theatricality. Bursting with razor-sharp humour and glittering social satire, the production promises an evening of laughter as intoxicating as champagne.
At the heart of Wilde’s beloved masterpiece are two young men leading double lives in pursuit of freedom from society’s suffocating expectations. When John Worthing and Algernon Moncrieff each assume false identities in hopes of winning the women they adore, an avalanche of mistaken identities and outrageous revelations ensues. Beneath the play’s sparkling surface lies a sly critique of Victorian morality, where appearances are everything and sincerity is treated as the greatest folly of all.
For Director Krista Jackson, Wilde’s comedy remains both delightfully subversive and strikingly modern. “Wilde, a brilliant, sexually boundless Irishman, was clearly aiming to tweak the nose of the British establishment,” she says. “However, I’d add an additional aspect to the philosophy at the root of his most famous play: the freedom to live as deliciously as our hearts and minds will allow.” In this exuberant Stratford production, Wilde’s world becomes a place of elegance and irresistible theatrical pleasure, where wit sparkles, conventions crumble and joy triumphs gloriously over restraint.
The Importance of Being Earnest features Ben Carlson as Rev. Canon Chasuble, Allison Lynch as Gwendolen Fairfax, Marissa Orjaloas as Cecily Cardew and Lucy Peacock as Miss Prism with Sean Arbuckle as Lane, Ashley Dingwell, Katarina Fiallos, Michelle Giroux, Jenna-Lee Hyde, Matthew Kabwe, Josue Laboucane, Landon Nesbitt, Liam Tobin as Merriman and Dakota Jamal Wellman.
Jackson is joined by Set Designer Bretta Gerecke, Costume Designer Cory Sincennes, Lighting Designer Imogen Wilson, Composer Sarah Slean and Sound Designer John Gzowski.
The Importance of Being Earnest officially opens on June 18, 2026, and runs until October 23, 2026, at the Avon Theatre. Tickets are available at stratfordfestival.ca or by calling 1.800.567.1600.
Straford Festival’s exciting 2026 season also features The Tempest, Waiting for Godot, Guys and Dolls, Something Rotten!, Death of a Salesman, The Hobbit, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Othello, The Tao of the World and The King James Bible Play. For more information, visit stratfordfestival.ca.
submitted by Helena Turpin
lead photo From left: Joe Perry as John Worthington, Marissa Orjalo as Cecily Cardew, Christopher Allen as Algernon Moncrieff, Fiona Reid as Lady Bracknell and Allison Lynch as Gwendolen Fairfax, The Importance of Being Earnest. Stratford 2026. Photo: by Dariane Sanche.
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