The National Theatre will offer a free worldwide stream of its 2024 revival of The Importance of Being Earnest in March, featuring a star-studded cast including Sharon D Clarke and Ncuti Gatwa. This initiative aims to reach broader audiences through accessible digital engagement.

The National Theatre has announced it will stream Max Webster’s production of The Importance of Being Earnest for free on YouTube from 12 to 18 March 2025. The filmed performance was recorded during its winter 2024/25 run at the National Theatre and features a cast led by Sharon D Clarke, Ncuti Gatwa, Ronkẹ Adékọluẹ́jọ́, Eliza Scanlen, and Hugh Skinner.

Following the initial stage run, the production was screened internationally in cinemas through National Theatre Live, reaching over 175,000 viewers. The free online stream is part of the “Take Your Seats” initiative and will be accompanied by a digital watch-along premiere at 7pm GMT, complete with live chat and viewer polls.

Accessibility is a key focus, with captioned, audio-described, and British Sign Language versions available for the streamed performance. After the free period, the production will move to the National Theatre at Home platform, where it will be available to subscribers from 19 March.

Max Webster’s staging of Oscar Wilde’s classic later transferred to the Noel Coward Theatre in a Sonia Friedman co-production, running from 18 September 2025 until 10 January 2026. The West End cast featured Olly Alexander, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, Hugh Dennis, Shobna Gulati, Kitty Hawthorne, Jessica Whitehurst, Hayley Carmichael, and Stephen Fry.

Take Your Seats, launched in 2023, has offered free streams including productions like Clint Dyer’s Othello and Rufus Norris’s Nye, attracting over 345,000 participants so far. The programme receives headline support from Bloomberg Philanthropies.

National Theatre at Home, established in 2020, currently offers more than 110 filmed productions with new releases monthly. Subscriptions cost £9.99 per month or £99.99 annually, with the majority of titles featuring audio description and captioning to ensure accessibility.