Strawdog Theatre | 2024
Photo Credit: Jenn Udoni
Strawdog Theatre | 2024
Photo Credit: Jenn Udoni
In this fresh, vibrant adaptation by Dusty Brown and director Elizabeth Swanson, THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST explores queer identity, chosen family, and the pursuit of happiness. Set against the backdrop of Chicago’s Boystown and Saugatuck, Michigan, with wit as sharp as skyscrapers and charm as timeless as the prairie wind, THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST is a delightful celebration of love in all its forms.
…for fans of Wilde, Strawdog Theatre’s exuberantly queer new adaptation of “Earnest” is perhaps an even more satisfying bit of justice.
Production Team
Elizabeth Swanson – Director and Adapter
Dusty Brown – Adapter and Dramaturg
Jordan Ratliff – Associate Director
Dakota Allen – Stage Manager
Olivia Leslie – Assistant Stage Manager
Joel Schleicher – Co-Production Manager
Noah Elman – Co-Production Manager
Manuel Ortiz – Scenic Designer
Emma Linnae – Lighting Designer
Heath Hays – Sound Designer
Maggie Verne – Prop Designer
Rain Foiles – Costume Designer
Jyreika Guest – Intimacy Director
Ellie Levine – Accessibility Director
Karissa Murrell Myers – Casting Director
Cast
Michael Reyes – Augustus Bracknell
Johnard Washington – Jack Worthing
Jack Seijo – Algernon Moncrieff
Kade Cox – Gwendolen Fairfax
Andi Muriel – Cecily Cardew
Lynne Baker – Ms. Prism
Crystal Claros – Dr. Chasuble
Matt Keeley – Merriman
AC Rakotoniaina – Augustus Bracknell U/S
Zane Sade – Jack Worthing U/S
Nora Sharp – Algernon Moncrieff U/S
Kelcy Taylor – Gwendolen Fairfax U/S
Cameron Cai – Cecily Cardew U/S
Wendy Lee Evans – Ms. Prism U/S
Jessica Goforth – Dr. Chasuble U/S
JJ Sheehan – Merriman U/S
If you’ve ever imagined how Oscar Wilde would fare in contemporary queer Chicago life, look no further than Strawdog Theatre’s sparkling and delightful adaptation of The Importance of Being Earnest by Dusty Brown and Elizabeth Swanson, directed by Swanson. …Studded with references to pop culture (RuPaul’s Drag Race comes up as part of Bracknell’s marriage test for Jack) and Chicago gay hangouts (“He always wants to go to Big Chicks. What am I—45?”), the show at times feels like gay bingo. I mean that in the best possible way. Brown and Swanson understand that the specificity here isn’t just about in-jokes (though they abound and are quite funny), but in creating a believable framework for the celebration of silliness-as-revolution that Wilde endorsed.
Dramaturg Dusty Brown, together with the production’s Director, Elizabeth Swanson, have brilliantly adapted Oscar Wilde’s droll, delectable dramatic diversion into a camp, contemporary comedy. It’s set in both Chicago’s Boys Town and Michigan’s gay, lakeside artist’s colony, Saugatuck. Ms. Swanson has already demonstrated that she’s one of the Windy City’s most talented directors… Now Elizabeth can add “talented playwright” to her resume, because she and Dusty Brown have captured both the wit of Oscar Wilde and the whimsy of contemporary Chicago’s Gay Culture.
Wilde wrote this play to have mainstream appeal and, though this queer adaptation adds a layer of outrageousness, the sparkle of his wit shines through in almost every line. Swanson’s crisp go-for-broke direction doesn’t miss a trick, from chases around furniture to spit takes to whatever she can do to evoke queer double entendre, and it all works.