KILDARE DRAMA: Charming witty play on Wilde’s life after prison

A play by Neil Titley starring Will Gowan as Oscar Wilde will be staged at the Moat Theatre, Naas on September 28.

Titled Work is the Curse of the Drinking Class, it is set in Paris, 1898. It is a year since Oscar Wilde’s release from prison in the UK, where, at the height of his fame, he served two years hard labour for “gross indecency with men”.

Impoverished and in failing health, Wilde stays alone at a dingy hotel in Saint-Germain-des-Prés and spends what little money he has on alcohol.

“This poverty really breaks one’s heart,” he wrote to his publisher, “it is so filthy, so utterly depressing, so hopeless, pray do what you can.”

He was to die two years later, at the age of 46, in exile from his family and his home.

In 2017, Wilde was among an estimated 50,000 men who were pardoned in the UK for homosexual acts that were no longer considered offences under the Policing and Crime Act (homosexuality was decriminalised in England and Wales in 1967, and in Ireland in 1993).

According to the Evening Stanard, “Titley balances Wilde’s almost dutiful humour with an unsentimental portrayal of his suffering in Reading Gaol, his bitter perception of man’s inhumanity to man. He also captures his character’s dignity in despair and the comedy makes the heartbreak of Wilde’s life even more poignant. It is a most moving effect.”

The Irish Times described teh play as “Charming and Witty”.

Tickets are priced at €18, concessions at €16 plus €1.50 online booking fee.

For further information log on to www.moattheatre.com