Dramaturg's Note

There is a certain mistake one might make in viewing this play. That is the assumption that the events depicted in this play, based on the true story of Oscar Wilde, represent the last dying gasp of an archaic and backwards era. The fate of Wilde may seem needlessly cruel, abusive and dogmatic - flying in the face of reason and empathy alike. Following the understanding of which might come the phrase "what an awful time in history - thank goodness these ancient ways of thinking are long since deceased." This would be to misunderstand the play's message in its entirety. The trials of Oscar Wilde came at the tail end of an era of legal reforms, which had taken the step forward of redacting the death penalty for the crime of homosexuality, but the steps backward of expanding the definition of what constituted a punishable, criminal homosexual act. As such, the trials were in fact the manifestation of an era where, by the metric of many, the restrictions upon gay rights had in fact increased. A crackdown, one which is in keeping with the trend of British treatment of queer citizens. Advances in human rights would often be met with backlash fueled by cultural zeitgeists in this regard - something that would be observed yet again during the mid-20th century, a period of time defined by an aggressive increase in police pursuit of and crackdown on the existence of gay men in England. This, too, would claim a prominent victim in the death of Alan Turing, a name likely recognized by those who saw the film "The Imitation Game" starring Benedict Cumberbatch. The message of this note, to put it bluntly, is to remind the viewer that the events depicted in this performance reflect the hardiness of bigotry. Cultural trends such as this die hard and slowly, and continue to impact the world we live in now. As such, the question the dramaturgy team would like to pose to the audience is not "isn't it a relief such times have passed?" but rather, "how does this play show things that continue to impact our world as it is today?"
- Connor Maccabee