THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST Will Embark on UK Tour

Fresh from a run at the open-air Roman Theatre of Verulamium in St Albans, OVO will take their adaptation of Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest on tour from 2 September to 5 November 2026.

Having staged over 100 productions in the past 23 years, OVO Founder and Earnest Adaptor and Director, Adam Nichols comments, 'This tour is a continuation of OVO's ambitious newly established rep theatre model, with a cast that has worked together through the summer at the Roman Theatre Open Air Festival and now extended to venues nationwide.

The model has allowed our cast to build real chemistry across the season, directly translating into audience experiences. For OVO, it has allowed us to plan more ambitiously, creating a more sustainable touring model in the midst of a very challenging funding environment for the arts.'

OVO's sparkling new production transports Oscar Wilde's comic masterpiece to the roaring 1920s - a world overflowing with style, glitz, and glamour.

Featuring a talented cast of actor-musicians, a live on-stage band seamlessly threads jazz-styled contemporary chart hits (think RAYE, Madonna, Lizzo and Eminem) through Wilde's hilarious, razor-sharp dialogue. What emerges is a jukebox musical that has something in it for everyone.

In this vibrant 1920s setting, the female characters take centre stage. Powered by agency and confidence, they are brought to life with refreshing strength. The traditional dynamics of the text shift delightfully, with relationships pioneered as much by female courtship as male. In the spirit of Wilde's own description, it is a production 'exquisitely trivial' and 'searchingly serious', delivered with enormous wit, playfulness, and heart.

Nichols concludes, 'The Importance of Being Earnest is a showcase of what OVO does best: reimagining classic plays in a bold new colour. Glittering, sharp, and beautifully mischievous.'

The tour kicked off on 2 September at the Radlett Centre in Hertfordshire, and continues to other UK venues including the Cheltenham Everyman Theatre and The Minack Theatre in Cornwall until 5 November.

2026 TOUR DATES

Need more UK / West End Theatre News in your life?
Sign up for all the news on the Summer season, discounts & more...