Oscar

About the show

Oscar Wilde is prosecuted under Britain's Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885 that criminalised all sex acts between men. Details of his life are under intense scrutiny in the courtroom. Wilde sits in his jail cell where he recalls better times on a family picnic with his wife Constance and their two boys. He reads them his fairy tale, The Nightingale and the Rose. We see the story unfold interspersed with scenes from Wilde's life in London's social circles and the beginnings of his relationship with Robbie Ross. Subjected to hard labour in prison, Wilde is malnourished and broken. He has tinnitus in one ear due to a fall. Alone and in despair Wilde recalls scenes from his story The Picture of Dorian Gray as well as his relationship with Bosie (Lord Alfred Douglas). Dorian makes a deal with the devil to keep his beauty intact while his portrait is gradually transforming to become more and more grotesque. Wilde and Douglas's relationship deepens leading Lord Queensberry (Douglas's father) to denounce Wilde and his eventual conviction. We see parallels with Dorian, whose life collapses to restore his portrait to its former beauty. On his release, Wilde is collected from prison by his friend Robbie Ross. Broken and with reputation destroyed he dies a few years later aged 46. His writing lives on and continues to be read and enjoyed today.