The Importance of Being Earnest
By Oscar Wilde
Booking and details
Schools’ matinee at 2.30pm on Wednesday 11 December
Ticket request applications are open
A Trivial Comedy for Serious People
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.
Max Webster (Donmar’s Macbeth; Life of Pi) directs a joyful and flamboyant reimagining of Oscar Wilde’s most celebrated comedy. Olivier Award-winner Sharon D Clarke (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom; Doctor Who) is joined by Ncuti Gatwa (Doctor Who; Sex Education) and Hugh Skinner (W1A; Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again) in this hilarious story of identity, impersonation and romance.
Cast includes
Ronkẹ Adékọluẹ́jọ́
Gwendolen Fairfax
Ronkẹ Adékọluẹ́jọ́
Julian Bleach
Merriman / Lane
Julian Bleach
Richard Cant
Reverend Canon Chasuble
Richard Cant
Sharon D Clarke
Lady Bracknell
Sharon D Clarke
Ncuti Gatwa
Algernon Moncrieff
Ncuti Gatwa
Amanda Lawrence
Miss Prism
Amanda Lawrence
Eliza Scanlen
Cecily Cardew
Eliza Scanlen
Hugh Skinner
Jack Worthing
Hugh Skinner
Production team
Director
Max Webster
Max Webster
Set and Costume Designer
Rae Smith
Rae Smith
Lighting Designer
Jon Clark
Jon Clark
Jon Clark is a Tony and Olivier award-winning lighting designer. He has designed extensively in the West End, on Broadway, for the National Theatre, Royal Opera House, Royal Shakespeare Company and with many other companies in the UK and internationally.
Sound Designer
Nicola T. Chang
Nicola T. Chang
Composer
DJ Walde
DJ Walde
Movement Director
Carrie-Anne Ingrouille
Carrie-Anne Ingrouille
Physical Comedy Advisor
Joyce Henderson
Joyce Henderson
Casting Director
Alastair Coomer CDG
Alastair Coomer CDG
For the National Theatre: over 50 productions including The Grapes of Wrath, Mnemonic (2024), Nye (also Wales Millennium Centre), Till the Stars Come Down, The House of Bernarda Alba, Othello, The Crucible (also West End), Blues for an Alabama Sky, The Corn is Green, The Normal Heart, The Welkin, The Ocean at the End of the Lane, Mosquitoes, This House, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, One Man, Two Guvnors and War Horse
Associate Costume Designer
Petros Kourtellaris
Petros Kourtellaris
Associate Sound Designer
Christopher Reid
Christopher Reid
Christopher Reid is an award-winning Sound Designer based in London.
Staff Director
Tanuja Amarasuriya
Tanuja Amarasuriya
Ticket prices
Monday – Saturday evenings and matinees:
£25, £39, £59, £79, £99
Previews 20 – 25 November:
£20, £35, £49, £64, £79
For concessions and discounts, see Ways to save
Please note the 6.30pm start time on the following Thursday performances: 12 Dec, 19 Dec, 9 Jan and 16 Jan.
Visit our Ticketing FAQs for information on how to book, ticket exchanges and more.
Prices may change according to demand
Assisted performances
Captioned
BSL Interpreted
Audio described
No Chilled performance available.
Dementia-friendly
No Relaxed performance available.
The interpreter for the BSL performance will be announced closer to the performance date.
Audio-described performances are preceded by a Touch Tour, 90 minutes before the performance start time. Call the Access line on 020 7452 3961 to book Touch Tours.
Audio description by Tony McBride and Timna Fibert.
We have an allocation of tickets held for members of our Access scheme and if any of the assisted performances above are shown as “Sold Out”, tickets may still be available: Please log in to your account to view all available tickets, or call Box Office on 020 7452 3961
Smart caption glasses
Are planned to be available for performances of The Importance of Being Earnest from 7.30pm, Thursday 5 December.
Bookshop
Visit the Bookshop website for a wide range of playtexts, gifts and prints of past production posters.