Casting Performers for "The Importance of Being Earnest" Play
"The Importance of Being Earnest" play looking for men & women. See the details below. About the project: A Trivial Comedy for Serious People by Oscar Wilde. Synopsis: The Importance of Being Earnest is a play by Oscar Wilde in which friends Jack and Algernon’s double-lives interfere with their romantic pursuits. It is a farcical comedy in which the protagonists maintain fictitious personæ to escape burdensome social obligations. Setting: Around 1800 in England. First the city, then the country. Additional info: General casting notes: Any race acceptable for any role. Ages playable, not literal. Other specific character notes below. Jack and Algy are similar in age; found to be brothers at play’s end, but that is unknown thoughout. Standard British accents (received pronunciation or RP) will be used in this production, so please prepare to demonstrate this accent during audition script read-throughs. Come prepared to read from the script. Please see the document attached. If callbacks are needed: Tue, Jan. 21, at 7 pm. Production Dates: March 13-16 and 20-23, 2025 If you are interested, please apply.
9 roles
“Jack” is Algernon’s friend, Gwendolen’s suitor, and Cecily’s guardian. He has invented a brother named Ernest, whose identity he assumes while in the city.
Jack’s friend, Lady Bracknell’s nephew, Gwendolen’s cousin, and love interest to Cecily. Ostentatiously cynical and constantly hungry. At play’s end, the mystery of Jack’s parentage reveals that Jack and Algy are actually brothers. Age: similar to Jack.
Canon Chasuble is the rather foolish, pedantic Rector attracted to Miss Prism.
The servant at Jack’s country manor house in Hertfordshire. Age variable adult.
Manservant to Algy. Very dry, though funny. Age variable adult.
Algernon’s aunt. She opposes Jack’s marriage to her daughter Gwendolen. Overall, she is realistic, hard-nosed, and an upholder of convention—though not entirely conventional herself. Female-identifying, but can be played by either a female actor or by a male actor in drag. Matronly.
Algy’s cousin, Lady Bracknell’s daughter, with whom Jack—as Earnest—is in love and to whom he proposes marriage.
Jack’s pretty, young ward, whom Algy woos but who remains determined to marry a man named Earnest. Not quite as naive as she may appear, Cecily keeps a diary, which “is simply a very young girl’s record of her own thoughts and impressions and consequently meant for publication.” Tutored by Miss Prism, Cecily often fails to attend to her studies. Age: plays as late teens.
Cecily’s absent-minded governess who is wooed by Chasuble.
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