Writer Neil Bartlett assembled the hour-long piece from facts revealed during a court hearing about that fateful night and The Remarkable Rocket, a children’s story penned for Cyril, Wilde’s golden-haired, violet-eyed son.
Playing both Wilde and the Rocket, Betty Bourne fired sparks of wit across the spellbound audience.
Meanwhile, Guy Henry’s stentorian tones and late- Victorian style rigidity made him the ideal choice for the Roman Candle.
Edmund Wiseman was Alfonso throughout, playing the over-awed, fawning rent-boy to perfection and raising a gasp when he came on stage, gazed defiantly at the receptive crowd and stripped down to his Calvin Kleins.
A blue serge suit, a silver cigarette case, a night of passion, a day in court, and then – 118 years later – a day’s rehearsal and an unforgettable premiere.
An elegantly-crafted insight into the mind of a genius, ultimately a man, struggling to throw off just for a moment, the stifling layers of expectation and reputation.
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