Drama
PAST EVENT: Wilde Without the Boy
Saturday 1st November - 7:30 PM
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Loughborough Town Hall
About the event
We meet a lone Oscar Wilde the night before his release from prison after serving 2 years’ hard labour for acts of gross indecency.
His manuscript, De Profundis, the searing letter Wilde wrote to his lover, Lord Alfred Douglas (Bosie), during his incarceration, is on a table. Wilde reads the letter, reliving his journey from artistic and intellectual icon, to his witness box testimony during his trial at the Old Bailey and, finally, to social pariah. Wilde Without the Boy is a window into the bruised but still radiant soul of one of the greatest geniuses ever to have lived.
Wilde’s brilliant poem, The Ballad of Reading Gaol, is performed as an accompaniment to Wilde Without the Boy.
“…A haunting and powerful solo show that lingers with you long after leaving the theatre…It feels like Wilde himself is in the room…utterly believable and incredibly moving…” Broadway Baby
I have seen many interpretations of Wilde on stage and screen, including those of Micheal MacLiammor, Corin Redgrave, Simon Callow, Stephen Fry, and Rupert Everett. I produced the first stage adaptation of The Trials of Oscar Wilde with Tom Baker in the 1970s and scripted the audio with Martin Jarvis. All these performances had much to recommend them – but, in truth, in terms of emotional impact, dazzling theatricality, and understanding of Wilde, none of them has rivalled what Gerard Logan brings to “Wilde Without the Boy”. Logan is the best Wilde on stage I’ve seen. – Gyles Brandreth