In Extremis & De Profundis
to mark the centenary of Oscar Wilde's death
the National presents a limited run of two plays, with Corin Redgrave as Wilde.
In Extremisa new play by Neil Bartlett (2000)
On the night of 24 March 1895, Mrs Robinson (Sheila Hancock) a society palm reader, agreed to see Oscar Wilde in her London flat.
Wilde's lover, Lord Alfred Douglas, 'Bosie', was urging him to sue the Marquis of Queensberry (Bosie's father) for criminal libel. But Wilde's friends, wary of Queensberry's power, were warning him to leave town.
In Extremis reveals the strange turmoil of that night, as a man at the height of his fame turns to a complete stranger for advice about a potentially life-changing decision. De Profundisby Oscar Wilde (1897)
edited by Merlin Holland (1997)
Two years later, towards the end of his sentence in Reading Gaol, Wilde was agonising over the lack of contact with Bosie. In desperation, he started to write him a letter.
‘You came to me to learn the pleasure of life and the pleasure of art. Perhaps I am chosen to teach you something more wonderful – the meaning of sorrow and its beauty.’
It is perhaps the greatest love letter ever written. Filled with a torrent of accusation, recrimination and passion, Wilde eventually reached an extraordinary state of under-standing and reconciliation.
A century later De Profundis remains an astonishing tour-de-force of self analysis.
Running time is approximately 2 hours 15 minutes including interval.
Merlin Holland is Oscar Wilde's grandson.
Listen to an extract from De Profundis read by Corin Redgrave in Reading Gaolproduced by Roger Elsgood at l'océan creative projects
In Extremis & De Profundis finished on: 16 December 2000
