National Theatre to stream The Importance of Being Earnest for free

The National Theatre has announced it will stream its hit revival of The Importance of Being Earnest for free in March. 

The filmed performance was captured during its run at the National Theatre in winter 2024/25. The cast includes Sharon D Clarke and Ncuti Gatwa, alongside Ronkẹ Adékọluẹ́jọ́, Eliza Scanlen and Hugh Skinner. Following its stage run, the production was released in cinemas internationally through National Theatre Live, reaching more than 175,000 people.

Max Webster’s production will be available to stream worldwide on YouTube from 12 March as part of the “Take Your Seats” initiative, with a digital watch-along premiere at 7pm GMT. Viewers will be able to interact via a live chat function and take part in polls during the performance. Captioned, audio-described and BSL versions will be available. The free stream will run until 18 March, before the production becomes available to subscribers on National Theatre at Home from 19 March.

Webster’s staging later transferred to the Noel Coward Theatre in a co-production with Sonia Friedman Productions, playing from 18 September 2025 until 10 January 2026. The West End cast included Olly Alexander, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, Hugh Dennis, Shobna Gulati, Kitty Hawthorne, Jessica Whitehurst, Hayley Carmichael and Stephen Fry.

Take Your Seats first launched in 2023, with previous free streams including Othello, directed by Clint Dyer, and Nye, directed by Rufus Norris. To date, more than 345,000 people have taken part in the initiative, which is supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies as headline sponsor of National Theatre at Home.

Launched in 2020, National Theatre at Home offers more than 110 filmed productions, with new titles added monthly. Subscriptions cost £9.99 per month or £99.99 annually. All titles include captions and more than 85 per cent are available with audio description.