National Theatre:

Take your seats is back! This year, stream the ★★★★★ hit production of The Importance of Being Earnest, featuring the brilliant Ncuti Gatwa, available to audiences worldwide for one week only. Premiere at 7pm GMT March 12, and free to watch until March 18.

I watched the last half of the premiere on Thursday afternoon and the full performance on Friday evening and laughed my head off both times. The multicultural, color-blind cast is wonderful (I especially loved the chemistry between Hugh Skinner and Ncuti Gatwa as Jack and Algernon). The production is unabashedly queer-and-inclusive and positively vibrates with over-the-top energy—bookended by its spirited opening and closing musical numbers—with the occasional fourth-wall breakage and light touches of modernity (listen for a brief piano interpolation of Bruno Mars’ Marry You). Oscar Wilde’s wit sparkles in this production. I suspect I’ll rewatch this one many times.

(Via Cathy Hammer.)