The Importance of Being Earnest (with audio): Enhanced Edition with Full Cast Audio Performance

This final play from the pen of Oscar Wilde is a stylish send-up of Victorian courtship and manners, complete with assumed names, mistaken lovers, and a lost handbag. Jack and Algernon are best friends, both wooing ladies who think their names are Ernest, “that name which inspires absolute confidence.” Wilde’s effervescent wit, scathing social satire, and high farce make this one of the most cherished plays in the English language.

The ebook also features an interview with director Michael Hackett, Professor of Theater in the School of Theater, Film and Television at UCLA and Chair of the Department of Theater.

By merging text and audio, this is a perfect learning tool for enhancing comprehension and enjoyment. The text includes plot summaries of each scene, and it is highly recommended as a study aid for students, teachers, actors and directors. Widely read in high school and college, The Importance of Being Earnest is a text exemplar of the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts.

Includes scene-by-scene and word-for-word text and audio of L.A. Theatre Works’ full cast performance starring:
James Marsters as Jack
Charles Busch as Lady Bracknell
Emily Bergl as Cecily
Neil Dickson as Lane and Merriman
Jill Gascoine as Miss Prism
Christopher Neame as Chasuble
Matthew Wolf as Algernon
Sarah Zimmerman as Gwendolen.

Directed by Michael Hackett for L.A. Theatre Works.

Lead funding for this production, and its presentation as an enhanced ebook, is generously provided by The Sidney E. Frank Foundation.