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Article: 'Oscar Wilde' Takes the Stand; "Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde" Through Sept. 18 Theater Alliance at H Street Playhouse 800-494-8497
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- August 26, 2005
- Author:
CopyrightThis material is published under license from the Washington Post. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post. (Hide copyright information)
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"I THINK it's more timely now than it was even when it was
written," says director Jeremy Skidmore of a play that, when it
debuted eight years ago, was already more than 100 years removed from
its subject matter.
That play, at Theater Alliance, is "Gross Indecency: The Three
Trials of Oscar Wilde," Moises Kaufman's acclaimed docu-drama about
the Irish playwright, who in trials that began in 1895, was accused
of -- and ultimately sent to jail for -- homosexual acts. ("Gross
indecency" was the Victorian term for such activity. Curiously, women
of the era had no corresponding prohibition.) Kaufman employed court
transcripts; autobiographical works by Wilde's lover, lawyer and
friends; and ...