The Oscar Wilde comedy has played to sold-out audiences since performances began April 15. Originally scheduled to run through May 25, Earnest will now offer an additional two weeks of performances through June 8. The production officially opens April 27.

Sean McNall and Bradford Cover appear as Algernon and Jack, respectively, with a cast that also features Ali Ahn, Rachel Botchan, Joanne Camp, Bradford Cover, Dominic Cuskern, TJ Edwards, Sean McNall and Carol Schultz.

In Wilde's familiar comedy, "Jack Worthington and Algernon Moncrieff both lead busy double lives in the highest of style: creating false identities, avoiding family obligations, wooing well-bred young ladies, visiting imaginary invalids and (equally imaginary) wayward brothers. But now their carefully constructed 'alternate universe' is crumbling at the edges, and they will have to decide whether being 'Ernest' or 'earnest' will get them what they want," production notes state.

J.R. Sullivan directs the production with a creative team including Harry Feiner (scenic design), Devon Painter (costume design), Stephen Petrilli (lighting design) and Mark Huang (sound design).

Tickets for The Importance of Being Earnest are available by calling (212) 598-9802. The Pearl Theatre Company is located at 80 St. Marks Place (at First Avenue) in the East Village. For more information visit www.pearltheatre.org.

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The Pearl Theatre Company's artistic director Shepard Sobel explained the mission of the troupe as such: "The Pearl produces a classical repertory because the great plays of the last 2,500 years provide a context, a perspective, by which we here in America in 2007 may see ourselves more clearly. We can — and have an obligation to — design the strength and character of the future only by knowing the character of the past."