The Importance of Being Earnest

The National Theatre’s sold-out production of The Importance of Being Earnest transfers to the Noël Coward Theatre this Autumn, in a co-production with Sonia Friedman Productions.

With Olly Alexander as Algernon Moncrieff, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett as Jack Worthing, Hugh Dennis as Reverend Canon Chasuble, Shobna Gulati as Miss Prism, Kitty Hawthorne as Gwendolen Fairfax, Jessica Whitehurst as Cecily Cardew, Hayley Carmichael as Merriman/Lane, and Stephen Fry as Lady Bracknell.

Directed by Max Webster (Donmar’s Macbeth; Life of Pi) this joyful and flamboyant reimagining of Oscar Wilde’s ‘glittering masterpiece’ (Telegraph), is a hilarious story of identity, impersonation and romance.

Being sensible can be excessively boring. At least Jack thinks so. While assuming the role of dutiful guardian in the country, he lets loose in town under a false identity. Meanwhile, his friend Algy takes on a similar facade. Unfortunately, living a double life has its drawbacks, especially when it comes to love.

Hoping to impress two eligible ladies, the gentlemen find themselves caught in a web of lies they must carefully navigate.