The Importance of Being...Earnest?

The Importance of Being... Earnest. Photo credit-Wichael Wharley _ Mann Bros.

Say It Again, Sorry?’s The Importance of being… Earnest? announces its first large scale UK tour playing a full run at the Edinburgh Fringe before embarking on a 37 week tour beginning in September 2023 and going all the way through to July 2024 – playing at the Belgrade Theatre, Coventry from Thursday 2 November to Saturday 4 November 2023.

After a phenomenally critically acclaimed Edinburgh Fringe run in 2022 and previous London Fringe theatre success, the hugely popular interactive twist on this classic comedy has been gathering rave reviews wherever it goes.

In this riotous twist on a much-loved classic the show opens to looming disaster; the actor playing Ernest in Oscar Wilde’s famed farce fails to arrive on cue. In a monumental effort to ‘save the show’, a real audience member is quickly cast in the lead role.

But this impetuous recasting sets off a hilarious chain of events that, one-by-one, renders the rest of the cast unable to continue their performances.

Audience participation in a big way! Photo credit-Dylan Silk.

As more audience members are encouraged to step into the spotlight, led backstage for costume and make-up, impromptu auditions, the painting of portraits, the chanting of mantras; doing whatever’s needed to help the show go on, an absurd controlled madness ensues – until it feels as if there are almost as many audience members in the cast as there are in the audience.

A hilarious twist to this classic play. Photo credit-Dylan Silk.

This is a comedic masterpiece of meticulous logistics, meritoriously involved audiences, masterful stage management and celebrity cameos. The Importance of Being... Earnest? Is an exciting and hilarious experience both to watch and be part of as the innovative format creates an unexpected new experience every night. It’s a show for anyone who has enjoyed the high-jinx of The Play That Goes Wrong, Sh!t-Faced Shakespeare and Austentatious.

Developed alongside the company’s flagship open-rehearsal initiative, where audiences are invited into the rehearsal room to participate in the creative process, the show is written by Josh King, Simon Paris and Say It Again, Sorry?, and is directed by Simon Paris.

Inspiring creating expression. Photo credit Dylan Silk.

The company’s vision is for the public to recover ownership over their own creative power and contribute to the future of theatre as active participants, collaborators, and decision-makers. Their aim is to connect people to their inner artist and inspire creative expression in everybody.

Here’s one of the many 5-star reviews.

"The production marries together the genuine spontaneity of Austentatious with the sensibilities and structure of The Play That Goes Wrong, offering a production that is simultaneously meticulously planned and completely improvised..." A Younger Theatre.

Book your tickets for the Belgrade Theatre: https://www.belgrade.co.uk/events/the-importance-of-being-earnest/