Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest at Gulfshore Playhouse
Published on January 20, 2026
Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest at Gulfshore Playhouse
Delivers a Very Good Comedy with Very Bad Manners
“A Fabulous Romp” - The New York Times
Naples, FL - Gulfshore Playhouse is thrilled to announce the cast and creative team of The Importance of Being Earnest, helmed by Kristen Coury, CEO & Producing Artistic Director. Performances begin March 1, 2026. Opening night is set for March 5 with the closing on April 4. Tickets may be purchased at gulfshoreplayhouse.org.
"This is the first production in Gulfshore Playhouse history that we are producing for the second time,” said Coury. “I directed our production in 2013 at the Norris Center and am excited to reprise my role as director on our luxuriously large Moran Mainstage. Our lush set, designed by Linda Buchanan, and gorgeous costumes, designed by Kirche Leigh Zeile, will create a visually delightful landscape for our actors to play in. This is a charming, and hilarious, comedy of manners that I know our audiences will love."
Hold onto your handbags! This wildly witty comedy set in the beauty and grandeur of Victorian England is one of the funniest plays ever written. Two debonair bachelors, Jack and Algernon, each lead a hidden double life to shirk responsibilities and follow their whims. But when their alter egos have the chance to win the hearts of two society ladies, hijinks ensue as they try not to get tangled up in their own web of lies.
The talented cast includes Michael Ehlers (Broadway’s Cats, National Tours Chess and Evita) as Lane and Merriman, Tony Carter (The Mousetrap at Gulfshore Playhouse, and Asolo Repertory’s Dial M for Murder) as John Worthington, James Evans (American Conservatory Theatre’s The Woman in Black) as Algernon Moncrieff, Kate Eastwood Norris (Constellations, Body Awareness at Gulfshore Playhouse, company member at Woolly Mammoth Theatre) as Lady Bracknell, Karen Peakes (Steel Magnolias, Into the Breeches at Gulfshore Playhouse) as Miss Prism, Richard Holls (Broadway’s Hangmen and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time) as Rev. Canon Chasuble, Ella Olesen (Florida Rep’s Oleanna) as Cecily Cardew, and Kate Marilley (Sweet Charity, She Loves Me at Gulfshore Playhouse, Broadway’s Beetlejuice) as Gwendolen Fairfax.
Gulfshore Playhouse also welcomes back a creative team of favorites including scenic design by Linda Buchanan (Dial M for Murder at Gulfshore Playhouse, Goodman Theatre’s Joe Turner’s Come And Gone), costume design by Kirche Leigh Zeile (The Lehman Trilogy, Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill at Gulfshore Playhouse), lighting design by Dalton Hamilton (Sweet Charity, Anything Goes at Gulfshore Playhouse), sound design by Phillip Owen (Broadway’s A Steady Rain, Alley Theatre’s Camp David), wig design by Bobbie Zlotnik (Sweet Charity, Anything Goes at Gulfshore Playhouse), dialects by Patrick Mulryan (The Mousetrap at Gulfshore Playhouse, Broadway’s Harry Potter and the Cursed Child), casting by Michael Cassara, CSA, and production stage management by Dom Ruggiero (Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? at Gulfshore Playhouse, Broadway’s The Gathering).
IMAGES can be found here: Dropbox
TICKETS and INFORMATION
LOCATION: The Baker Theatre and Education Center, Moran Mainstage, 100 Goodlette-Frank Road South, Naples, Florida 34102.
SHOW TIMES: Tuesday-Saturday at 7:30PM, Wednesday and Saturday at 2PM, and Sunday at 3PM. Please check the calendar for any schedule changes.
TICKETS: Tickets are now on sale and start at $40. Discounted tickets are available for patrons under 35; Educators; Families composed of two adults and two children; Active military, veterans, first responders, and their immediate families. Tickets can be ordered online (gulfshoreplayhouse.org) or by phone (239.261.PLAY).
IN-PERSON BOX OFFICE HOURS: Patron Services at the Baker Theatre and Education Center is open Tuesday-Saturday 10am-5pm and Sunday Noon-5pm. Additionally, the Box Office is open 90 minutes before show times.
ABOUT GULFSHORE PLAYHOUSE
Gulfshore Playhouse is passionately committed to enriching the cultural landscape of our region by producing professional theatre to the highest artistic standards and providing unique educational opportunities to diverse groups of people in a spirit of service, adventure, and excitement. The work of Gulfshore Playhouse is inspired by a belief in the magic of theatre to expand the imagination, challenge the senses, provoke discussion, and revitalize in its audiences an understanding of our common humanity. This belief drives the care with which Gulfshore Playhouse treats its artists, audiences, students, staff, and members of the greater community.
Gulfshore Playhouse is now producing in the state-of-the-art Baker Theatre and Education Center. Located at the corner of Goodlette-Frank Road South and 1st Avenue South, the gateway to downtown Naples, the facility houses a 350-seat mainstage theatre and a 125-seat studio space, in addition to numerous events, rehearsal, and educational spaces. Naming opportunities are still available.
For more information about Gulfshore Playhouse or its new facility, or to make a contribution, visit www.gulfshoreplayhouse.org or call 239-261-PLAY.