revival was directed by Michael Fentiman for the Vaudeville Theatre, London, as part of a season of four Wilde plays produced by Dominic Dromgoole. The production received largely negative press reviews. In 2021, during the Covid-19 pandemic, a group of students from Newcastle University filmed a production, including scenes with Wilde himself as a character, at the Sunderland Empire to raise awareness of struggling theatres and artists who had suffered from negative implications of lockdowns in the UK. The production received largely positive press for its message. Synopsis The play is set in "The Present" (i.e., 1895). Act I: Algernon Moncrieff's flat in Half Moon Street, W The play opens with Algernon Moncrieff, an idle young gentleman, receiving his best friend, Jack Worthing ("Ernest"). Ernest has come from the country to propose to Algernon's cousin, Gwendolen Fairfax. Algernon refuses to consent until Ernest explains why his cigarette case bears the inscription, "From little Cecily, with her fondest love to her dear Uncle Jack." 'Ernest' is forced to admit to living a double life. In the country, he assumes a serious attitude for the benefit of his young ward, the heiress Cecily Cardew, and goes by the name of Jack while pretending that he must worry about a wastrel younger brother named Ernest in London. Meanwhile, he assumes the identity of the libertine Ernest in the city. Algernon confesses a similar deception: he pretends to have an invalid friend named Bunbury in the country, whom he can "visit" whenever he wishes to avoid an unwelcome social obligation. Jack refuses to tell Algernon the location of his country estate. Gwendolen and her formidable mother, Lady Bracknell, now call on Algernon, who distracts Lady Bracknell in another room while Jack proposes to Gwendolen. She accepts but seems to love him in large part because of his name, Ernest. Jack accordingly resolves to himself to be rechristened "Ernest". Discovering them in this intimate exchange, Lady Bracknell interviews Jack as a prospective suitor. Horrified to learn that he was adopted after being discovered as a baby in a handbag at Victoria Station, she refuses him and forbids further contact with her daughter. Gwendolen manages to covertly promise to him her undying love. As Jack gives her his address in the country, Algernon surreptitiously notes it on the cuff of his sleeve: Jack's revelation of his pretty and wealthy young ward has motivated his friend to