Oscar Wilde is not only arguably one of the most famous English speaking playwrights ever, but is also the center of one of history’s most captivating and heartbreaking stories. Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde, by Moisès Kaufman, tells the story of the decline of the most notorious artist of the time and marks a major turning point in the history of gays and lesbians. From the one of the creators of The Laramie Project, Gross Indecency weaves together the transcripts from Oscar Wilde’s three trials with other writings on the subject to depict the string of events that led to Wilde’s imprisonment, exile and ultimately his death. theatre Q’s production of Gross Indecency, directed by George Quick, shows at the Dragon Theatre in Palo Alto, 535 Alma Street. Previews begin May 29, 2008, and the show opens Saturday, May 31 running through June 22, Thursdays – Saturdays at 8pm and Sundays at 2pm.

The first trial of Oscar Wilde, in 1895, was the beginning of his downfall. Wilde took the father of his young lover to trial for libel. The Marquess of Queensberry, after hearing of his son Alfred Douglas’ relationship with Wilde left a calling card at a popular social club saying “Oscar Wilde: posing somdomite”, an unfortunate malapropism that has since became world-famous. Wilde was forced to drop the charges when he realized he had no chance of winning, but the damage had been done. Queensberry immediately forwarded all his defense material to the Crown and urged prosecution of Wilde for committing gross indecency with four specified men (notably, Alfred Douglas was not mentioned in the charge). This resulted in Wilde’s second trial, which ended in a hung jury. The final trial, on the same charge, resulted in Wilde being sentenced to two years hard labor in prison, a sentence he never recovered from.

Told in the same style that would later become world famous with The Laramie Project, Gross Indecency uses actual transcripts from the trials, interspersed with newspaper coverage of the fracas, as well as letters and other writings from the participants and other observers. Such notable figures as George Bernard Shaw, Queen Victoria and the author himself are among the over 30 characters that appear in the work and are portrayed by only nine actors.

Director Quick says "Working on this play has opened my eyes to the enormous influence Oscar Wilde has had on the culture of the entire English speaking world. The
issues with which he was grappling during the reign of Queen Victoria are issues with which we still grapple today: art for art's sake and sexual freedom. He was an amazing artist, a trail blazer and a genius. It is a shame his light was doused too early."

Appearing in the production are John Aney (Sunnyvale) as Oscar Wilde as well as Thomas Azar (San Jose), Kevin Copps (San Francisco), Frederick Goris (Union City), Patrick Hilt (Newark), Kevin Hseih (San Jose), Matthew Lowe (San Francisco), Scott Ludwig (San Francisco) and Michael Moerman (San Francisco/Nevada City).

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