Comedies of Oscar Wilde with Ed Golden
Tuesday afternoons from 2-4 p.m.
In person only at Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theatre.
October 19, 26, November 2, 9, 16.
Course limited to 12 participants.
The many faces of Oscar Wilde – incomparable wit, prolific essayist, poet, outrageous public personality, notorious gay man married with two sons, convicted criminal in one of the most famous cases in world annals, abject pauper succumbing to an early death after a prison sentence at hard labor – surely make him one of the most fascinating characters in literary if not all of history. Our focus is on Oscar Wilde playwright whose superb comedies of manners rank him in the highest echelons of world theatre. His most celebrated piece THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST will be followed by AN IDEAL HUSBAND, and, if time permits, A WOMAN OF NO IMPORTANCE. Join audiences the world over who, since the 1890s, have laughed from start to finish at Wilde’s sustained brilliance as he takes aim at the follies and foibles of the English upper classes.
For a look at yet another facet of Wilde’s playwriting we will experience in advance of our first session, the heady sensuality of the one-act SALOME with overtones of Aubrey Beardsley.
I will provide a set of questions specific to each play to guide our weekly discussions. Having acted in and directed some of these plays, I look forward with great enthusiasm to sharing them with you as dynamic works meant to be lifted from page to stage. And we’ll start every class with a witticism from Oscar himself.
Any edition of Wilde’s works will be fine.