When you think of Oscar Wilde you think of catchy, clever, eminently quotable one-liners. You think, of course, of The Importance of Being Ernest and the other frothy, witty comedies of manners reflecting late Victorian society. But Victorian society, and indeed Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills Wilde himself, had a darker, more sinister side.
As we all know, he spent two years in prison, the most celebrated prisoner since the man in the iron mask, but sadly, Wilde had brought his downfall upon himself by initially, and unwisely, suing the Marquess of Queensbury for libel. The case mis-fired when all the sordid details of Wilde’s homosexuality came out and it was he who was jailed. Wilde was encouraged in his action by his lover, the score-settling Lord Alfred Douglas, son of the Marquess.
Wilde was at the height of his fame with The Importance still running in the West End but the establishment was uneasy with his “extrovert” life-style and jumped at the opportunity of delivering his comeuppance. Wilde blamed his demise on young Lord Alfred and De Profundis was an open letter/diatribe aimed at his former squeeze. Bosie, as he was known, was an opportunist only interested in Wilde’s celebrity and fortune. He is quoted as once saying to him “When you are not on your pedestal you are not interesting.”
There have many one-man-shows based on the life and work of Oscar Wilde – Micheál Mac Liammóir made a career of it – and there is as much interest in the man as in his work. De Profundis makes the perfect vehicle for an actor. It is a wide ranging text allowing the performer the whole gamut of emotions to portray without the aid of a single witty remark or one-liner. Gerard Logan with his show Wilde Without the Boy at the Everyman Studio in Cheltenham, has put together an entertaining and enlightening evening which gives us a greater insight into a complex and flawed genius. This is the reflective, introverted, often bitter Wilde who, if anything, is more interesting than the colourful image which he was happy to encourage.
Gerard Logan gives a virtuoso, mesmerising performance, but was it Oscar Wilde? Although very charismatic, Mr Logan’s portrayal, for me, lacked the flamboyance, the campness, if you like, that you’d expect – but maybe that’s what Wilde was like when he was “off”. I guess a prison cell and two years hard labour can dampen anyone’s enthusiasm. Nevertheless, this was a compelling and revealing piece of theatre which I thoroughly enjoyed. ★★★★☆ Michael Hasted
