Actors Needed for "The Importance of Being Earnes" Play Audition
Audition for "The Importance of Being Earnest". Looking for males and females. See the details below. ONLY LOCAL TALENT WILL BE ACCEPTED. About the project: The Importance of Being Earnest is Oscar Wilde’s sparkling comedy of manners that skewers Victorian society with wit, charm, and a dash of absurdity. The play follows two young men, Jack and Algernon, who each create fictional identities—most notably the mysterious "Earnest"—to escape social obligations and pursue romance. Wilde delivers not only a hilarious satire on identity and the rigid expectations of the upper class, but also the willing madness lovers endure in the name of love. Full of mistaken identities, clever wordplay, and social critique, this timeless classic promises laughter while keeping you guessing until the very end. Additional info: Callbacks: November 8 (by invitation) Show Dates: January 30 - February 14, 2026 (Fri, Sat & Mon) Come prepared with a monologue from the play, from the selections attached. Bring a list of scheduling conflicts from November 8 through February 14, a current photo, and resume. Initial auditions will be monologues from prepared sides from the script. Callbacks will involve cold readings from the script in groups. Rehearsals begin in early December. Mandatory rehearsals begin Saturday, January 17. If interested, please apply.
9 roles
Description: a wealthy young man who seems the paragon of responsibility, yet leads a double life. He wants to marry Gwendolen but must gain her mother, the formidable Lady Bracknell’s approval. He must secretly resolve issues about his identity, since he lives as “Jack” in the country and “Ernest” in London.
Description: Jack’s friend and Gwendolen’s cousin. Although handsome and charming, he is also lazy and decidedly hedonistic. He cleverly invented a fictional invalid friend, “Bunbury” to escape social obligations. The allure of Jack’s beautiful ward Cecily tempts Algie to go off to the country where he falls in love with her, despite his wayward ways and the fact that his name is not Ernest.
Description: Local clergyman. Gentle, scholarly, awkward in his infatuation for Miss Prism. The very picture of religious propriety, he is very accommodating and willing to christen anyone who needs a new name. Note: Lane and Merriman will be played by the same actor
Algernon’s manservant Description: Discreet, deadpan, subtly witty, and self-serving in the most dignified way. He follows orders, but not without commentary. He subtly mocks the upper class by playing along with their absurdities.
Jack’s Butler (Played older than Lane) Description: Proper, dutiful, mostly silent, yet very expressive in his manner, his body language. Serves Jack and manages the household without question. His orderly life is thrown into confusion when Master Jack’s wicked brother Ernest comes to stay.
Description: Algernon’s cousin and Jack’s love interest, Gwendolen is sophisticated, strong-willed, and obsessed with appearances, especially her own. She desires to marry a man named “Ernest” because of all the name implies. Though clever enough to get her way, she is ruled by her controlling mother, Lady Bracknell. The perfect embodiment of Victorian superficiality and romantic idealism.
Description Jack’s ward and Algernon’s love interest, Cecily is imaginative, naïve, and pragmatically romantic. She has kept a diary filled with imaginary events, which sound very accurate, including her engagement to the unrepentant brother of her guardian Uncle Jack. What strange luck that wicked Ernest should arrive one day and be so inconveniently handsome.
Description: Gwendolen’s mother and Algernon’s aunt, she is the pillar of domineering snobbery and fashionable refinement. Naturally she wants her daughter to marry well and uphold the family’s social status; thus Lady Bracknell must protect her daughter from unworthy influences, both suitors and her reprobate nephew, Algernon. How sad that Algie is such a disappointment to the standards of Victorian aristocracy!
Description: Cecily’s governess. Seemingly stern, she is good hearted, moralistic, forgetful, and discretely harbors feelings for Dr. Chasuble. She also has far more scandalous secrets, including the long ago authorship of a 3 volume romantic novel.
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