Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde (Lambda Literary Award)

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Winner of the Lambda Literary Award In this stunning work of theater, Moises Kaufman turns the trials of Oscar Wilde into a riveting human and intellectual drama. In April 1895 Oscar Wilde brought a libel suit against the Marquess of Queensberry, 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. Expertly interweaving courtroom testimony with excerpts from Wilde's writings and the words of his contemporaries, Gross Indecency unveils 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 read and studied for decades to come.

Reviews

"Absolutely gripping . .. scintillating . . . sharply intelligent, dramatically fresh . . . a Wildean triumph." --The New York Times

"Thrilling . . . unforgettable, maybe even life-changing. . . . [It has] the inevitability and much of the monumentality of a Greek tragedy." --USA Today

"A dazzling coup de theatre, at once compelling history and chilling human drama." --Time

"Stunning . . . taut, shattering, yet delightfully exuberant . . . altogether fascinating." --Newsday

Author Bio

Moises Kaufman is a Tony and Emmy-nominated director andplaywright. He is theco-founder and artistic director of Tectonic Theater Project.Kaufman's playsGross Indecency- The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde,andThe Laramie Project(which he co-wrote with the members of Tectonic Theater) have been among the most performed plays in America over the last decade. He is also the author of the Tony Nominated play33 Variations;One Arm(his adaptation of the Tennessee Williams screenplay of the same name); and the short playLondon Mosquitoes.He has directed numerous plays on Broadway includingthe Pulitzer and Tony Award-winningI Am My Own Wifeby Doug Wright which earned Mr. Kaufman an Obie Award for direction as well asTony, Outer Critics, Lucille Lortell, Drama Desk Awards nominations. Kaufman directed the film adaptation ofThe Laramie Project, which aired on HBO and was the opening night selection at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival. Kaufman is a Guggenheim Fellow.