The Divine Oscar

How many of us realise that he was head over heels in love with the notorious Lily Langtry, sleeping on her doorstep night after night in the snow. He was married very happily , with two children before he fell hopelessly for ‘Bosie’, Lord Alfred Douglas. He had been gay since teenage but now became infamous and spent two years in Reading Gaol for his homosexuality – behaviour far from unsual in other quarters. Through most of his earlier years he sailed through Dublin particularly, London and New York hugely in demand for his charm and wit, a major social player. He was a writer of genius with an intense eye fro social frailities, especially among the upper classes.

Peter Gilchrist’s show introduces us to Wilde the man, but with great humour of his own, to some the funniest and best observer of Wilde’s plays. He plays seven different characters, bringing to life scenes from ‘The Importance of being Earnest’ and ‘An Ideal Husband’. Many of us remember the lovely momnet when Earnest admits he was born in a handbag! The show stopper however is Gilchrist’s introduction to Lady Bracknell in all her majestic glory! Lord Goring and his manservant, Phipps, share some hilarious diaglogue, and there is the lovely moment between Wilde and his very Irish prison warder, Tom Martin.

“I have twice had the privilege of enjoying Peter Gilchrist’s Oscar Wilde presentations which he does with such empathy for both the humour and the poignancy of his writings and plays. He really has a talent for identifying with the whole range of Wilde’s varied works” – Peter Steyn, Ornothologist and Audience Member.

“A sensitive, gentle chronicle of Oscar Wilde’s private life. Peter Gilchrist was mesmerizing in a demanding, complex role.” – Samantha Gray

“‘ A wonderful, creative show.   Like a breath of fresh air at Kelvin ” – Robert Perumal