Sharon D. Clark as Lady Bracknell, Ncuti Gatwa as Algernon, Amanda Lawrence as Miss Prism and Eliza Scanlon as Cecily.

Teaching with Trailers: The Importance of Being Earnest

Posted by Speakeasy News > Tuesday 21 January 2025 > Shine Bright Lycée Webpicks


The National Theatre's production of The Importance of Being Earnest, starring the current Doctor Who, Ncuti Gatwa, is wowing audiences in London's West End. If your students are studying the play for LLCER, the trailer for the production would be a great addition to their portfolios.

The trailer has no dialogue apart from Lady Bracknell's famous exclamation "A handbag!" at the end. It has distilled the plot of the play down to the famous handbag in which Jack was found. In an awkward game of "pass the parcel, the characters repeatedly try to get rid of the handbag by passing it onto someone else.

Pupils could have fun trying to invent dialogue to match the images, or a sports-commentary-type voiceover.

The Importance of Being Earnest
Lyttleton Theatre
Till 25 January.
It will be available in British cinemas as a National Theatre Live screening from 20 February, and should be available in France later in the year.



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