The Importance of Being Earnest
EnglishOscar Wilde
Oscar Wilde's comedy about two men who both claim to be called Ernest. Nine parts, five men and four women: two long leads, and Lady Bracknell, who steals it in far fewer lines.
Free, with every role voiced. Listen to the whole play first, then pick your part, and the app reads the others aloud while you rehearse your lines.
Roles
- John Worthing (219 lines)
- Algernon Moncrieff (201 lines)
- Rev. Canon Chasuble (42 lines)
- Merriman (17 lines)
- Lane (21 lines)
- Lady Bracknell (85 lines)
- Gwendolen Fairfax (102 lines)
- Cecily Cardew (153 lines)
- Miss Prism (41 lines)
Preview
[Lane is arranging afternoon tea on the table, and after the music has ceased, Algernon enters.]
ALGERNON
Did you hear what I was playing, Lane?
LANE
I didn’t think it polite to listen, sir.
ALGERNON
I’m sorry for that, for your sake. I don’t play accurately—any one can play accurately—but I play with wonderful expression. As far as the piano is concerned, sentiment is my forte. I keep science for Life.
LANE
Yes, sir.
ALGERNON
And, speaking of the science of Life, have you got the cucumber sandwiches cut for Lady Bracknell?
LANE
Yes, sir. [Hands them on a salver.]
ALGERNON
[Inspects them, takes two, and sits down on the sofa.] Oh! . . . by the way, Lane, I see from your book that on Thursday night, when Lord Shoreman and Mr. Worthing were dining with me, eight bottles of champagne are entered as having been consumed.
LANE
Yes, sir; eight bottles and a pint.
ALGERNON
Why is it that at a bachelor’s establishment the servants invariably drink the champagne? I ask merely for information.
LANE
I attribute it to the superior quality of the wine, sir. I have often observed that in married households the champagne is rarely of a first-rate brand.
ALGERNON
Good heavens! Is marriage so demoralising as that?
LANE
I believe it is a very pleasant state, sir. I have had very little experience of it myself up to the present. I have only been married once. That was in consequence of a misunderstanding between myself and a young person.
ALGERNON
[Languidly.] I don’t know that I am much interested in your family life, Lane.
LANE
No, sir; it is not a very interesting subject. I never think of it myself.
