When Oscar Wilde wrote The Importance of Being Earnest back in 1895, he subtitled it “A Trivial Comedy for Serious People.” That’s an apt description for a show still produced with frequency 117 years later — and as funny as ever.  

Collaboration is the byword for many arts organizations today, especially theaters where financial support is tough to obtain and ticket revenues are seldom enough to support the cost of productions. By working together, economies can be achieved and, in some cases, multiple constituencies can be activated.  

When Know Theatre of Cincinnati was launched in 1997, it was an itinerant theater company. In fact, it was called the “Know Theatre Tribe” and its shows, touring productions and readings directed by founder Jay Kalagayan, were presented at bookstores and art galleries around town.   

More often than not, I try to introduce CityBeat readers to new plays and writers. We see quite a few such shows locally thanks to Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati (ETC), the Cincinnati Playhouse and Know Theatre. In fact, looking at American Theatre’s list of 2012-2013’s “Top 10” most-produced plays, six have already been presented locally.  

Daniel Beaty spent his first 18 years in Dayton. He considers that a blessing. “I’m a native Ohioan,” he said in a recent phone interview, as he prepares to bring his one-man show, Through the Night, to the Cincinnati Playhouse, where it begins a four-week run on Thursday.  

What makes Bruce Cromer one of our region’s best actors? He’s especially good at virtuous characters such as Atticus Finch, the admirable, broadminded attorney in To Kill a Mockingbird, a role he’s currently playing for Cincinnati Shakespeare Company (CSC).  

If you spent some of last spring watching the TV series Smash, you learned that Broadway producers look for talent whose names attract audiences. The commercial concerns of Broadway producers are surely a big factor in their decision-making, especially how much magnetism a star can bring. This led me to speculate whether we have bankable stars in Cincinnati.  

Rather than focus on one venue, Cincinnati Shakespeare Company delivers its Shakespeare in the Park Tour to more than a dozen parks and outdoor venues throughout the Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky area. The first of CSC’s touring performances will be on Saturday with the 7 p.m. opening of The Tempest at Seasongood Pavilion in Eden Park.