Kerry Ellis has joined the cast of the 2018 U.K. tour of Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest from The Original Theatre Company. Ellis, who will play Gwendolen at select performances, was the first British actor to play Elphaba in Wicked, a role she later played on Broadway.
The tour will begin January 24, 2018, at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre in Guildford, and is scheduled to end April 28 in Eastbourne. Original Theatre Company Artistic Director Alastair Whatley directs.
Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest follows Jack Worthing’s endeavors to marry the beautiful Gwendolen. The classic farce looks at the clash between town and country in a story of romance, identity, and social obligations.
Ellis will perform in the show at Yvonne Arnaud Theatre Guildford, Courtyard Theatre Hereford, Theatre Royal Plymouth, Belfast Grand Opera House, Theatre Royal Bath, and Manchester Opera House. Hannah Louise Howell (Ghosts, Engineers Blue) will play Gwendolen at all other venues.
They join the previously announced Gwen Taylor as Lady Bracknell and Susan Penhaligon as Miss Prism. Rounding out the cast are Geoff Aymer, Louise Coulthard, Thomas Howes, Peter Sandys-Clarke and Simon Shackleton, playing Chasuble, Cecily, Algernon, Jack, and Lane/Merriman, respectively.
The production will feature set and costume designs by Gabriella Slade, sound and music by Giles Thomas, and lighting by Alan Valentine. The U.K. tour is produced by Tom Hackney for The Original Theatre Company.
For more information visit TheImportanceofBeingEarnest.co.uk.
