Nigel Havers and Martin Jarvis to Star in THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST in the West End, June 2014

The Daily Mail writes that Nigel Havers and Martin Jarvis will co-star in a revamped production of Oscar Wilde's THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST, beginning June 27, 2014 at the Harold Pinter Theatre, with plans for a UK tour.

The show will be directed by Lucy Bailey and "imagines a fictional Bunbury Players putting on a production of Oscar Wilde's play as they have done, over and over, for decades. Hence the age of the players."

Read the original report here.

Havers will play Algernon opposite Jarvis as Jack, with Sian Phillips as Lady Bracknell., Cherie Lunghi as Gwendolen, Christine Kavanagh as Cecily, Rosalind Ayres as Miss Prism and Niall Buggy as Reverend Chasuble.

EARNEST was first performed in 1895 at the St. James's Theatre in London and has since been revived countless times and seen in three film adaptations, the latest in 2002. Roundabout Theatre Company last produced the show on Broadway in 2011. Havers and Jarvis also starred together in Peter Hall's 1982 production of the play at the National Theatre in London.

Wilde's comedy of errors centers on John Worthing, a high-society gentleman who invents a brother, Ernest, as a means to leave the country and journey to London, where he passes time with his friend Algernon. While in London, John woos Algernon's cousin Gwendolen under the name Ernest and finds himself caught in his lies.

Havers has appeared onstage in many pantomimes over the years, including Peter Pan, Dick Whittington, Jack and the Beanstalk, Aladdin, Cinderella and Robin Hood. His recent TV credits include The Life of Rock with Brian Pern, Downton Abbey, Coronation Street, Brothers & Sisters and more.

Jarvis has acted in many stage productions in London and the US, and most recently appeared with Diana Rigg and Natascha McElhone in Honour, which ran through May 2006 at Wyndham's Theatre. Jarvis's television credits include Agatha Christie: Poirot, the mini-series Endeavour, the TV movie Phil Spector, EastEnders, Taking the Flak and more. On the big screen, he has appeared in Wreck-It Ralph, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Framed and more.

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