 The play was first produced at the St James 's Theatre on Valentine 's Day 1895 . It was freezing cold but Wilde arrived dressed in " <unk> sobriety " , wearing a green <unk> . The audience , according to one report , " included many members of the great and good , former cabinet ministers and privy councillors , as well as actors , writers , academics , and enthusiasts " . Allan Aynesworth , who played Algernon Moncrieff , recalled to Hesketh Pearson that " In my fifty @-@ three years of acting , I never remember a greater triumph than [ that ] first night " . Aynesworth was himself " <unk> and stylish " , and Alexander , who played Jack Worthing , " demure " . 
