Oscar Wilde on Trial ... Three Times
In April 1895 Oscar Wilde brought a libel suit against the Marquess of Queensbury, the father of his youthful lover, who had publicly maligned him as a sodomite. In doing so, England's reigning man of letters set in motion a series of events that would culminate in his ruin and imprisonment. For within a year the bewildered Wilde himself was on trial for acts of "gross indecency" and -- implicitly -- for a vision of art that outraged Victorian propriety.
In this stunning work of the theatre -- a smash hit Off-Broadway -- Moisés Kaufman turned the trials of Oscar Wilde into a riveting human drama. Expertly interweaving courtroom testimony with excerpts from Wilde's writings and the words of his contemporaries, Gross Indecency unveiled its subject in all his genius and human frailty, his age in all its complacency and repression. The result is a play that will be performed for decades to come.
Guest director Julie Hartley and an acting company of UW Drama students explored the historical record at the same time that they revealed one of the first examples of how the media, by imposing itself on current events, succeeds in establishing a cult of celebrity hysteria and personal invasion.
Winter 2003 Production
By Moises Kaufman, with Afterward by Tony Kushner
Directed by: Julie Hartley
Performances: March 26-29, 2003
Venue: Theatre of the Arts, Modern Languages Building
Cast
Narrator 3, Harris, Public - Lindsey Alston
Press, Boxer, Queen Victoria, Auctioneer, Lockwood, Alfred Taylor - Nicholas Cumming
Bosie - Jeff deSchiffert
Judge - David Devine
Press, Parker - Nathaniel Gibbs
Clarke - Julia Harries
Oscar Wilde - Brett Haynes
Public, Wright, Atkins, Narrator 6 - Andrew Hryniewicz
Queensbury, Public - Jonathan Hubble
Narrator 2, Public, Willie - Allison Jowett
Narrator 2, Public, Landlord - Amie MacDonald
Narrator 1, Shaw, Foreman of the Jury, Hotel man, Public - Murina Murphy
Public, Clerk of Arraigns, Gill, Narrator 7 - Jess O’Connor
Public, Sgt. Richards, Wood - Jonathan Orton
Press, Kaufman, Narrator 5 - Amanda Rees
Carson, Public - Jennifer Scullion
Public, Constance, Prostitute, Narrator 8, Taylor, Sepranza - Lesley Tumber
Public, Sgt. Allan, Mavor - Dave Zoltok
Crew
Director – Julie Hartley
Set Designer – Meredith Kenzie
Lighting Designer – Scott Spidell
Costume Designer – Stephanie Coleman
Sound Designer – Greg More
Production Crew
Stage Manager – Meghan Wiggin
Assistant Stage Managers – Ariel Bourbonnais, Christina Romasz, Laura Thomas
Production Director – Bill Chesney
Production Manager – Scott Banks
Technical Director – Scott Spidell
Assistant Technical Director – Fraser Smith
Publicity – Joyce Hahn
Publicity Assistant – Erika Kottelenberg
Publicity Crew/Front of House – Dana Fernald, Robyn Joffe
Poster & Program Design – Yen Chu Design
Program – DRAMA 301 Class
Lighting Head – Jen Cook
Lighting Crew – Samantha Leask, Amanda Rees
Carpentry Head – Heather Bedard
Carpentry Crew – Tegan Cassidy, Denise Hill, Jessica Jones, Eloisa Laquiran
Props Head – Janine Auger
Scenic Paint Head – Krystina Labadie
Props Crew & Scenic Paint – Lori Anderson, Travis Hatt, Julia Schuessler
Sound Crew – Diana Knoll
Wardrobe Head of Crew– Miranda Warner
Wardrobe Crew – Lindsey Alston, Amaranth Day, Jessica O’Connor
Head of Wardrobe – Jocelyne Sobeski
Video – Rasheed Ali
Additional Crew – David Devine, Celeste Dickson, Monika Chmiel.
Thank you:
Jane Macleod
IDG (Interactive Design Group)
Home Fashion Market
University of Waterloo Theatre Centre
Steve Eason
Clifford Snyder