A walk on Wilde side of history

Strong acting and innovative staging distinguish the University of Nebraska at Omaha’s production of “Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde,” which opened Thursday night.

“Gross Indecency” was the legal term for men coupling with men in the Victorian era, when the trials took place. But playwright Moisés Kaufman soon makes clear the play and the trials are about much more than the celebrated Irish author’s sex life.

Kaufman puts on trial the British judicial system, matters of class and gender, the pack mentality of the press and public and, in particular, Wilde’s beliefs about morality and art.

As Wilde, Chris Harris is the play’s strong anchor, illuminating this complicated character and why he chose to stand up in court rather than flee to avoid prosecution and ruin. Amid the trials’ hysterics, Harris offers a measured performance as Wilde shifts from cheerful cockiness to defiance, denial, depression and, finally, acceptance.

Wilde triggered the first of his three trials. He sued for libel the Marquess of Queensberry, estranged father of young Lord Alfred Douglas, who was then Wilde’s constant companion. Queensberry publicly accused Wilde of posing as a sodomite.

Brendan JD Reilly fairly foams at the mouth as mad dog Queensberry (highly entertaining), while Joe Fogarty effectively portrays Lord Alfred as an indignant son so bent on hurting his father, he can’t see the danger to Wilde.

Ben Beck also shines as Wilde’s attorney, while Charles Fisher nimbly cross-examines on Queensberry’s behalf. Other actors impress in multiple roles.

After Wilde loses the libel trial, the British Crown goes after him, producing a parade of young men who testify they slept with Wilde. The trials (a hung jury necessitated the third) were a ruinous sensation, serving as a gossipy sort of “Entertainment Tonight,” circa 1895.

Watching Wilde’s self-triggered fall from public idolatry to disgrace, and hearing the public and media cacophony, it’s easy to draw comparisons to the situation Tiger Woods finds himself in today.

Kaufman later wrote “The Laramie Project,” about the impact of the trial of gay college student Matthew Shepard’s killers on that Wyoming town. He based both scripts on interviews, letters, legal transcripts, news articles and documents, and used both plays to look at the moral beliefs and societal influences of a particular time and place.

All those documents produce a talky evening with a lot of angry shouting. It gets long and repetitious at times, in spite of the strong cast. Still, director Amy Lane keeps a brisk pace and deftly manages quick scene and character transitions.

Steven L. Williams’ set — a triangular platform faced on three sides by desks and then audience — reinforces the sense that Wilde is besieged from all sides, and the stained wood is handsome. But placing judges’ raised paneled seats at the ends of the three aisles sometimes leaves heads wagging fast to follow who’s talking.

When all’s said and done, you won’t be focusing on those things. It will be Lane’s staging, Harris and company’s acting and the questions raised by Kaufman’s script that stick in your head after this strong evening of student theater. “Gross Indecency” is UNO’s entry in the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival.

Contact the writer:

444-1269, bob.fischbach@owh.com

« Entertainment

Share