Shortly after the premiere of Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest in 1895, the Marquess of Queensbury, rankled by his son's homosexual relationship with Wilde, harassed Wilde in public. Wilde responded by setting in motion a libel suit that would eventually lead to his own conviction for sodomy, then imprisonment and loss of public appreciation of his art. Gross Indecency recreates the trial that shook the creative world, drawing from a number of accounts, including Wilde's lover Lord Alfred Douglas, George Bernard Shaw and Wilde's riotous testimony during the trial itself. Wilde crafts a new work out of his performance at the trial, from the complementary elements of his dramatic sense and homosexuality, of course ending in tragedy different from anything Wilde ever committed to paper. The play outside the play of Wilde's role in the trial pushes the boundaries of historical fiction itself through subtle framing devices, coming to share Wilde's belief that truth in narrative is a very tricky thing indeed.
Escape from Happiness November 16 to 19 by George F. Walker directed by Dorothy Fortenberry '02 produced by Carrie Roby '03 and Nicole Ruiz '02 Read more in ArtsRecommended Articles
