The Importance of Being Earnest
By Oscar Wilde
Booking and details
National Theatre Live screening
The Importance of Being Earnest will be in cinemas from 20 February 2025 – tickets on sale now.
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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.
‘A sparkling new production…that’s fiercely faithful to Wilde’s wickedly subversive spirit’
‘A joyful version of Oscar Wilde’s 1895 farce’
★★★★★
The Sun
‘A joyous romp of endlessly quotable lines and fizzing farce’
★★★★
Sunday Express
Suitability
Please note: This production contains strong language, suggestive content and smoke and haze.
Supporters
This production is supported by the Huo Family Foundation.
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Gallery
Production Images
Rehearsal Images
Cast
Ronkẹ Adékọluẹ́jọ́
For the National Theatre: The Importance of Being Earnest, Blues for an Alabama Sky and Three Sisters
Julian Bleach
For the National Theatre: The Importance of Being Earnest, Saint George and the Dragon and Every Good Boy Deserves Favour
Shereener Browne
For the National Theatre: The Importance of Being Earnest and The Effect
Richard Cant
For the National Theatre: The Importance of Being Earnest, The Normal Heart, Mr Gum and the Dancing Bear and War Horse (also West End)
Sharon D Clarke
For the National Theatre: The Importance of Being Earnest, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Everyman, The Amen Corner and Guys and Dolls
Ncuti Gatwa
For the National Theatre: The Importance of Being Earnest
Jasmine Kerr
For the National Theatre: The Importance of Being Earnest and Follies (2019)
Amanda Lawrence
For the National Theatre: The Importance of Being Earnest, Top Girls, Angels in America, Here We Go, Light Shining in Buckinghamshire, Damned by Despair, Greenland and Tristan & Yseult
Gillian McCafferty
For the National Theatre: The Importance of Being Earnest
Elliot Pritchard
For the National Theatre: The Importance of Being Earnest and Museum of Austerity (also for ETT)
Eliza Scanlen
For the National Theatre: The Importance of Being Earnest
Hugh Skinner
For the National Theatre: The Importance of Being Earnest and The Enchantment
John Vernon
For the National Theatre: The Importance of Being Earnest, Coriolanus, London Tide, Dear Octopus and The Red Lion
Artistic team
Director
Set and Costume Designer
Rae Smith
Rae Smith
For the National Theatre: The Importance of Being Earnest, Paradise, Translations, Macbeth, Barber Shop Chronicles (on tour, at BAM and the Roundhouse), wonder.land, The Light Princess, War Horse (original production and 2024 tour), Theatre of Blood and This House (on UK tour and at Garrick)
Lighting Designer
Jon Clark
Jon Clark
For the National Theatre: The Importance of Being Earnest, The Motive and the Cue, The Lehman Trilogy (also on Broadway and in the West End), Amadeus, ANNA, Othello and Hamlet
Sound Designer
Nicola T. Chang
Nicola T. Chang
For the National Theatre: The Importance of Being Earnest and Kerry Jackson
Movement Director
Carrie-Anne Ingrouille
Carrie-Anne Ingrouille
For the National Theatre: The Importance of Being Earnest, Our Generation and The Suicide
Composer
DJ Walde
DJ Walde
For the National Theatre: The Importance of Being Earnest, Our Generation (also arranger and music director), Dick Whittington (also arranger and music production) and The Suicide
Physical Comedy Advisor
Joyce Henderson
Joyce Henderson
For the National Theatre: The Importance of Being Earnest and Mother Courage and Her Children
Intimacy Coordinator
Ingrid Mackinnon
Ingrid Mackinnon
For the National Theatre: The Importance of Being Earnest, Coriolanus, Underdog: The Other Other Brontë (also Northern Stage), The House of Bernarda Alba, The Effect (also The Shed, New York) and Phaedra
Casting Director
Alastair Coomer CDG
Alastair Coomer CDG
For the National Theatre: over 50 productions including Alterations, The Importance of Being Earnest, The Other Place, The Grapes of Wrath, Mnemonic (2024), Nye (also Wales Millennium Centre), The House of Bernarda Alba, Othello, The Crucible (also West End), Blues for an Alabama Sky, 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
Casting Director
Chloe Blake
Chloe Blake
Recent National Theatre includes: The Importance of Being Earnest, Nye (also Wales Millennium Centre), Jekyll and Hyde, Barrier(s), Hamlet for Young Audiences, The Effect and Blues for an Alabama Sky
Dialect Coach
Hazel Holder
Hazel Holder
For the National Theatre: Alterations (upcoming), The Importance of Being Earnest, A Tupperware of Ashes, The Grapes of Wrath, The Hot Wing King, Death of England trilogy, The Effect, Grenfell: in the words of survivors, Trouble in Mind, Blues for an Alabama Sky, The Crucible, Rockets and Blue Lights, Death of England, Small Island, Nine Night, Barber Shop Chronicles, Angels in America, Les Blancs and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Voice Coach
Shereen Ibrahim
Shereen Ibrahim
For the National Theatre: company voice work includes The Importance of Being Earnest, Coriolanus, The Grapes of Wrath, Underdog: The Other Other Brontë, Dear Octopus, Dear England, Dixon and Daughters, The Odyssey, Hamlet, The Crucible, Jack Absolute Flies Again and The Father and the Assassin (also dialect work); dialect work for Standing at the Sky’s Edge, All of Us and Our Generation; and acting work in The Black Album and The Hour We Knew Nothing of Each Other
Associate Set Designer
Isabel Muñoz-Newsome
Isabel Muñoz-Newsome
For the National Theatre: The Importance of Being Earnest, Angels in America and King Lear
Associate Costume Designer
Petros Kourtellaris
Petros Kourtellaris
For the National Theatre: The Importance of Being Earnest
Associate Sound Designer
Christopher Reid
Christopher Reid
For the National Theatre: The Importance of Being Earnest and Beginning (as associate sound designer)
Associate Wigs, Hair and Make-up Designer
Adele Brandman
Adele Brandman
For the National Theatre: The Importance of Being Earnest, Coriolanus, London Tide, The Motive and the Cue (also in West End), Everyman, The Light Princess, As You Like It (2016), The Deep Blue Sea, Follies (2017 and 2018 as co-supervisor), Salomé, Nine Night, Hadestown (2018), The Lehman Trilogy (2018), My Brilliant Friend, Mr Gum and the Dancing Bear, The Crucible (2022), The Corn is Green, Candide, Market Boy, Comedy of Errors, Frankenstein and The Magistrate
Staff Director
Tanuja Amarasuriya
Tanuja Amarasuriya
For the National Theatre: The Importance of Being Earnest
Ticket prices
Monday – Saturday evenings and matinees:
£25, £49, £66, £86, £110
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 is Natasha Trantom. The BSL consultant is Nadeem Islam.
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.