Sir Stephen Fry is “delighted” to have been forged in The Significance of Being Earnest – a present that “modified [his] life”.
The 67-year-old actor is taking part in the “formidable” Woman Augusta Bracknell within the Nationwide Theatre’s manufacturing of the 1895 Oscar Wilde play at Noël Coward Theatre, London, from September 18, 2025, to January 10, 2026.
The Significance of Being Earnest – a “Trivial Comedy for Severe Folks” – sees Jack Worthing use the title “Earnest” to steer a double life, and his pal Algernon Moncrieff takes on the same facade.
Jack and Algernon attempt to impress two younger girls, however the gents discover themselves caught in an internet of lies they have to fastidiously navigate.
Stephen’s character – Woman Bracknell, whose nephew is Algernon – is a modern and respectable lady, and he or she insults everybody she meets.
She is extra apprehensive about boosting her social and monetary standing than with creating grounded, relational connections.
Woman Bracknell angers the characters in The Significance of Being Earnest as a result of she blocks Jack’s engagement to Gwendolen Fairfax.
Talking in regards to the function of Woman Bracknell – who was performed by Dame Judi Dench within the 2002 movie adaptation – Stephen stated: “I used to be delighted to be requested by Max Webster to affix his jubilant Nationwide Theatre manufacturing and play the formidable Woman Bracknell within the West Finish.
“Oscar Wilde has been a vastly necessary determine in my life and profession, and The Significance of Being Earnest is a play that modified my life after I first noticed it aged 10.
“It made me perceive what language can do and completely transported me.
“Wilde is a beacon to individuals who nonetheless consider in open pondering and adventuring with the thoughts and spirit.”
In addition to Stephen, who joins Ollie Alexander (Algernon Moncrieff), Nathan Stewart-Jarrett (Jack Worthing), Hugh Dennis (Reverend Canon Chasuble), Shobna Gulati (Miss Prism), Kitty Hawthorne (Gwendolen Fairfax), Jessica Whitehurst (Cecily Cardew), Hayley Carmichael (Merriman/Lane) have all been forged.
Award-winning director Max stated of the present: “Oscar Wilde was a grasp of magnificence, rise up, and razor-sharp wit. With this forged – led by the audacious brilliance of Olly Alexander, the vastly charming Nathan Stewart-Jarrett and the legendary Stephen Fry as Woman Bracknell – we’re embracing the play’s subversive coronary heart in a approach that feels completely now.
“I’d wish to assume Wilde can be delighted – and even perhaps just a little scandalised – by this daring, joyful tackle his most iconic comedy.”
Tickets for The Significance of Being Earnest can be found now at nationaltheatre.org.uk.
