The Importance of Being Earnest

Important Information

Age Recommendation 10 and over (Under 3's will not be admitted, all under 16's must be accompanied by an adult)

Performance Dates 18 Sept 2025 - 10 Jan 2026

Performance Times Mon - Sat 7pm, Thu & Sat 2pm

Content Warning Features strong language, suggestive content and smoke and haze.

Run time 2 hrs 45 mins (incl. interval)

Venue Noel Coward Theatre

About

Access

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

Olly Alexander (It’s A Sin) plays Algernon Moncrieff in director Max Webster’s (Donmar’s Macbeth; Life of Pi) joyful and flamboyant reimagining of Oscar Wilde’s "glittering masterpiece" (Telegraph), 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.

Access Performances:

Audio Described performance - 27 November 2025, 7pm and 13 December 2025. 2pm

Captioned performance - 18 November 2025, 7pm and 3 January 2026, 2pm

BSL Signed performance - 22 November 2025, 2pm and 11 December, 7pm