The Festival Announces the Cast of The Importance of Being Earnest
The Utah Shakespeare Festival is excited to announce the cast of this season’s production of The Importance of Being Earnest in the Randall L. Jones Theatre. This is only the third time the play is hitting Festival stages, with the first being 35 years ago in 1990, and the most recent production in 2003. Oscar Wilde’s light-hearted comedy has been called by critics “one of the funniest play ever written,” drawing on satire to explore themes of class, deception, and romantic relationships.
“The Importance of Being Earnest is truly Shakespearean in its theatrical devices of mistaken identities, secret engagements, and lover entanglements. I’m thrilled to pair this piece with such an eclectic theatrical season at the Festival and cannot wait for audiences to experience this rapid fire comedy of wits and manners,” says Director Rodney Lizcano, who audiences may remember as Gremio in last season’s The Taming of the Shrew and Don Pedro in Much Ado About Nothing.
Lead production staff working with Lizcano are Scenic Designer Jo Winiarski, Costume Designer Bill Black, Lighting Designer Jessica Greenberg, Sound Designer/Composer Scott O’Brien, Voice/Text/Dialect Coach Gwendolyn Schwinke, Fight/Intimacy Director Jason Spelbring, and Stage Manager Terence Orleans Alexander.
The cast is as follows:
Katie Drinkard is debuting at the Festival, as Gwendolen Fairfax in The Importance of Being Earnest. She has performed at The Arvada Center, Creede Repertory Theatre, The Denver Center, and more. Other credits include an audiobook narration of Trained to Protect. Drinkard received a BFA in musical theatre from Ithaca College and is a member of Actors’ Equity Association.
Luke Sidney Johnson is returning, as Lane/Merriman in The Importance of Being Earnest. Last season, he understudied Leontes in The Winter’s Tale and Richard Hannay in The 39 Steps. He has also been in Romeo and Juliet, The Sound of Music, and Sweeney Todd at the Festival. He has performed at Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Hunterdon Hills Playhouse, and Playmill Theatre. Johnson received a BFA in musical theatre from Southern Utah University.
Valerie Martire is returning, as Cecily Cardew in The Importance of Being Earnest. Previous roles at the Festival include Margaret in Much Ado About Nothing and Bianca/Player in The Taming of the Shrew. She has been in productions of Mauritius, The Wolves, and Appropriate at Illinois Wesleyan University, where Martire also received a BFA. Awards include Best Actress in an Indie Film (Top Shorts 2023).
Frank Oden is debuting at the Festival as Rev. Dr. Chasuble in The Importance of Being Earnest. He has performed at Shakespeare in the Wild, The Arvada Center, Boulder Ensemble Theater Company, and much more. Other credits include touring as a solo artist for Poetry in Concert and receiving the Denver Drama Critics Award for Best New Play. Publications include Plays and Musicals: Holly Alaska!, Easy Money, The Winter Rose, and more. Oden has a BA in theater from Arizona State University.
Christopher Joel Onken is debuting at the Festival as Jack Worthing in The Importance of Being Earnest. He has been on Broadway in The Inheritance and off-Broadway in The Inn at Lydda. Onken has performed at Colorado Shakespeare Festival, Orlando Shakespeare Theater, and Theater at Monmouth to name a few. Television credits include FBI on CBS. He has a BA in theatre from Clemson University and is a member of Actors’ Equity Association.
Melinda Parrett is returning to the Festival as Miss Prism in The Importance of Being Earnest. Previous roles at the Festival include Beatrice In Much Ado About Nothing, Miss Bates in Jane Austen’s Emma the Musical, Annie in The Play That Goes Wrong, and many more. Parrett just finished the Broadway National Tour and Madison Square Garden performances of Annie with Whoopi Goldberg. She has also performed at The Denver Center, Goodspeed Opera House, Geva Theatre, and more. She is a member of Actors’ Equity Association.
Rob Riordan is returning to the Festival as Algernon Moncrieff in The Importance of Being Earnest. Previous roles at the Festival include Ellard in The Foreigner and Huck Finn in Big River. He has performed off-Broadway in Vermont and Sea Gull. Other acting credits include those at TUTS Houston, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Geva Theater Center, and more. Film credits include roles in Concessions, The Surprise Visit, The Rebels of PT-218, and more. He received the award of Best Actor in The Surprise Visit from the San Diego Art Film Festival and is a member of Actors’ Equity Association.
Sarah Shippobotham is returning, as Lady Bracknell in The Importance of Being Earnest. Previous roles at the Festival include Williamina Fleming in Silent Sky, Duchess of York in Richard III and multiple roles in Pericles to name a few. She recently wrote and performed in the world premiere of the one-woman show Can I Say Yes to That Dress at Salt Lake Acting Company. She has worked as a voice and dialect coach at the Shaw Festival for eighteen years and as a dialect coach at Pioneer Theatre Company. She received her education at the Royal Central School of Music and Drama in London and the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff, Wales.
The 2025 season runs June 16 through October 4. Tickets are on sale now at bard.org or by calling 800-PLAYTIX.
