OSCAR Wilde's theatrical masterpiece The Importance of Being Earnest gets the Ulverston Outsiders treatment next month.

The renowned comedy hits the stage at the Coronation Hall from Tuesday March 21 to Saturday 25.

Arguably one of the most famous of all plays, The Importance of Being Earnest is the story of two bachelors, John ‘Jack’ Worthing and Algernon ‘Algy’ Moncrieff, who create alter egos named Ernest to escape their tiresome lives.

They attempt to win the hearts of two women who, conveniently, claim to only love men called Ernest.

The pair struggle to keep up with their own stories and become tangled in a tale of deception, disguise and misadventure.

The elaborate plot ridicules Victorian sensibilities with some of the best loved, and indeed bizarre, characters to be found on the modern stage.

Wilde originally wrote it in four acts, but during the first rehearsals George Alexander persuaded him to shorten it down to three.

In the Ulverston Outsiders production, Jack Worthing is played by Duncan Lindsay and Algy Moncrieff by Adam Atkinson.

Claire Boulter and Hannah Mitchell will portray the two leading ladies, Gwendolen Fairfax and Cecily Cardew; Jenny Schofield is the formidable Lady Bracknell; and Miss Prism is played by Helen Newell.

Richard Harris makes a welcome return as Canon Chasuble, and Lane and Merriman are played by David Coles and Seamus Doran.

The play will be directed by Rob O'Hara, fresh from playing John Barrymore in the Outsiders' previous play, I Hate Hamlet. This will be his first major play that he has directed for the Outsiders.

The Importance of Being Earnest runs at the Coronation Hall from March 21 to 25, at 7.30pm each night. Tickets available from the venue's box office.