The Importance of Being Earnest

(in 30 Minutes)
  • Comedy/Adaptation
  • One-act play 30-40 minutes
  • 7 actors possible, gender flexible
In this one-act adaptation of Oscar Wilde's beloved romantic comedy, the stakes are even higher and the deadlines even tighter for poor Jack Worthing, whose alter ego "Ernest" comes back to haunt him in the form of his rakish friend Algernon Montcrieff, who adopts the false identity to woo Jack's ward Cecily. But Jack-as-Ernest has just proposed to Algernon's cousin Gwendolen, to the great disapproval of her mother, the rigid Lady Bracknell. When the two ladies—both engaged to Ernest Worthing—meet up, chaos ensues. All the wit of Wilde in less than half the time.​

Published by Playscripts

Script sample available to read online through Playscripts.