Say It Again, Sorry?’s comedic masterpiece of meticulous logistics, meritoriously involved audiences, masterful stage management and celebrity cameos is delighted to return to Edinburgh after a hugely successful 2022. In this riotous twist on a much-loved classic; after the actor playing Ernest in Oscar Wilde’s famed farce fails to arrive on cue, a real audience member is quickly cast in the lead role. But what should have saved the show, instead sets off a hilarious chain of events that, one-by-one, renders the rest of the cast unable to continue their performances.
As more audience members are encouraged to step into the spotlight, led backstage for costume and make-up, impromptu auditions, paint portraits, chant mantras, and do 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 in the cast as there are in the … audience.
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. This is a show for anyone who has enjoyed the high-jinx of The Play That Goes Wrong, Sh!t-Faced Shakespeare and Austentatious. And according to A Younger Theatre, The Importance of Being… Earnest? “improves on its predecessors”.
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.
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.
