Doctor Who's Ncuti Gatwa joins Hugh Skinner in The Importance of Being Earnest
Sharon D Clarke also stars in the National Theatre's "joyful and flamboyant reimagining" of the classic Oscar Wilde play.
Ncuti Gatwa is set to be all over our TV screens in just a matter of weeks thanks to the hotly-anticipated return of Doctor Who – and now the actor has been cast in a major stage production that will come to the National Theatre later this year.
Gatwa will star alongside W1A and Fleabag star Hugh Skinner in a new take on Oscar Wilde's classic play The Importance of Being Earnest, with the two actors playing bachelors Algernon Moncrieff and Jack Worthing, respectively.
The production will be directed by Max Webster and also includes Sharon D Clarke (Doctor Who), Richard Cant (It's A Sin) and Amanda Lawrence (Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker) in its cast. It will run from Wednesday 20th November until Saturday 25th January.
Webster described the casting as "a dream come true” in an interview with Deadline and also told the publication that he had "always loved" Wilde's play.
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"I think it must be one of the funniest and most brilliant bits of English language ever written," he said.
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Although best known for his TV work, Gatwa is no stranger to the theatre, having begun his acting career by appearing in several productions at the Dundee Rep before starring as Mercutio in a 2014 production of Romeo & Juliet at HOME in Manchester.
His further theatre credits include roles in productions such as Shakespeare in Love at The Noël Coward Theatre, A Midsummer Night's Dream at Shakespeare's Globe and The Claim at The Crucible.
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Webster explained that it was in the aforementioned A Midsummer Night's Dream that Gatwa had first caught his eye before he went on to further admire his work in Sex Education.
He said: "I thought he would be a really witty, flamboyant, and fabulous Algy, and he was the first person I thought of, it’s amazing he’s doing this."
The National Theatre has described the new version as "a joyful and flamboyant reimagining" of the play, which it calls a "hilarious story of identity, impersonation and romance".
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