THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING OSCAR at Reading Rep Theatre

★★★★★

“an elegant and electrifying revival”

Micheál Mac Liammóir (1899-1978) was a prodigiously talented actor, writer and director who founded the famous Gate Theatre in Dublin. In 1960 he wrote and performed a highly successful one-man show about Oscar Wilde which went on to tour the world. For many years the play was the only available theatrical presentation of the celebrated Irish writer and gay aesthete’s life.

Director Michael Fentiman, whose credits include the Watermill’s award winning musical Amélie, has delivered an elegant and electrifying revival of the show for this lively Reading theatre. It is performed by Alastair Whatley, the artistic director and founder of prize-winning Original Theatre which has made a name for itself for its pioneering work in digital theatre.

The play is delivered as a first person narrative, from a black box set by Madeleine Girling which consists of a circular daïs which is mirrored by a circle of light above. The highly effective lighting design by Chris Davey complements this satisfyingly simple design. It is matched by a subtle and highly effective sound design by composer Barnaby Race.

In a notable omission, the playwright glosses over the fact that Wilde arguably brought a criminal prosecution on himself by attempting to prove in court that he was libelled by the Marquess of Queensberry who had accused him of ‘posing as a somdomite’ (sic).

But Wilde’s brilliancy shines in extracts from ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’ and ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’. Alastair Whatley’s performance is both very fine and a prodigious demonstration of his powers of recall. His version of Lady Bracknell’s cross-examination of Worthing (‘To lose one parent may be regarded as a misfortune – to lose both seems like carelessness’.) was an absolute delight.

There is a special poignancy in hearing extracts from Wilde’s landmark letter to his lover Lord Alfred Douglas performed in Reading, since Wilde wrote it in the town’s gaol during his two year incarceration following a conviction for gross indecency. ‘De Profundis’ or ‘from the depths’ was laboriously written on 80 sheets of prison paper. It begins with self-pity but in the second half turns to humble and spiritual reflection: ‘To those who are in prison tears are a part of every day’s experience. A day in prison on which one does not weep is a day on which one’s heart is hard, not a day on which one’s heart is happy.’

The highlight of this performance was a cleverly staged rendition of Wilde’s Ballad of Reading Gaol which tells the true story of a man hanged at Reading gaol for murdering his unfaithful wife: ‘Yet each man kills the thing he loves / By each let this be heard, / Some do it with a bitter look, / Some with a flattering word, / The coward does it with a kiss, / The brave man with a sword!’

In ‘De Profundis’ Wilde writes about ‘feasting with panthers’ – a reference to his fondness for sex with underage boys, an offence for which he would still be imprisoned today. At the time, his offence was seen as immeasurably worse because they were not of his class. None of that takes away from Oscar Wilde’s greatness, which is brought to vivid life in Reading in this compelling theatrical tour de force.