Dance On The Wilde Side: Oscar© Comes To The Sydney Opera House And Live Streaming
Oscar Wilde’s infamous trial has been brought to life by international choreographer Christopher Wheeldon and the Australian Ballet.
One of the most important figures in LGBTQIA+ history is the Irish writer Oscar Wilde (1854-1900), famous for plays such as The Importance Of Being Ernest and Salome, the novel The Picture Of Dorian Gray, short stories like The Happy Prince, numerous essays, and his shockingly acute wit.
However, it’s his criminal conviction for “gross indecency” – sex with other men – that makes him important to LGBTQIA+ history, and it’s this part of his story that is told through the Australian Ballet’s new production, Oscar.
In the lead role as Oscar, dancer Callum Linnane’s performance is unique and emotional. “In terms of bringing the spirit of Oscar Wilde into the dance, that credit has to go to our choreographer Christopher Wheeldon,” says Linnane.
Wheeldon (An American In Paris) incorporates elements of Wilde’s The Nightingale And The Rose and Dorian Gray to tell the story. The creative team includes composer Joby Talbot and set and costume designer Jean-Marc Puissant.
“Christopher has created a movement vocabulary that felt very true to Oscar,” says Linnane, “so I went along for the ride and built on that as much as possible. Once performing, I rely a lot on instinct. I do research and exploration throughout the process and see what works, but when it’s curtain-up, all thinking goes out the window and it becomes about instinct. It’s about just being in that moment as Oscar Wilde.
“This creative process has been one of, if not the most, enjoyable of my career,” says Linnane.
“There was a wonderful energy in the studio throughout the creation of this production, so it was a joy to come in each day. The only challenge is when Oscar descends into a sort of madness in prison. That takes a lot out of me mentally and emotionally, but I also find that element of portraying a character quite addictive. There’s a huge amount of enjoyment in that. I worked with our intimacy coordinator on developing skills to ‘de-role’ after a performance and take me out of that mental space.”
Benjamin Garrett plays the role of Wilde’s lover, Lord Alfred Douglas, known as Bosie. “Playing Bosie is artistically stimulating to me because I get to play a character that is a beautiful and sensitive poet, but also a manipulative and selfish brat,” says Garrett.
As Wilde and Douglas, Linnane and Garrett get to share a passionate kiss during the ballet, unashamedly presenting the homosexual love and desire at the heart of the story.
“The challenge with that is jumping between the extremes of emotion that Bosie’s character feels,” says Garrett. “One moment I’m in a loving embrace with Oscar, and the next I’m angry and throwing a tantrum. It can be difficult to find an honest and authentic way to play each of these emotions in such quick succession.”
Two of Wilde’s works, The Nightingale And The Rose and The Picture Of Dorian Gray, help illuminate Bosie’s character. “Bosie is as romantic, sensitive, and youthfully naive as The Student at the beginning of The Nightingale And The Rose, but he is also as selfish, brash and as manipulative as Dorian Gray. He is both Oscar’s great love and his downfall,” says Garrett. “I think of Bosie as an embodiment of a romanticised ideal Oscar both idolised and warned of in his work.”
It is tragic that Wilde never knew of his legacy – both as a writer and as a figure who exemplified the social and sexual oppression of gay and bisexual men in the late 19th Century. Indeed, Wilde is sometimes referred to as the first gay martyr of the modern liberation movement.
His trial in 1895, regarded as one of the first celebrity trials, saw prosecutors question him over his penned phrase, “the love that dare not speak its name”. It’s thought that Wilde’s explanation of the term, a close relationship between an old man and a younger man, helped convict him, confirming homosexual activity not just between Wilde and Bosie but also between Wilde and various male sex workers. He was sentenced to two years of hard labour, which involved many hours walking on a heavy wooden treadmill, with “hard fare and a hard bed”, and where inmates were allowed to read nothing but the Bible.
When he was transferred from Pentonville Prison to Reading Gaol, a crowd formed on the platform at Clapham Junction railway station where they jeered and spat at him. In 2019, a rainbow plaque was unveiled at the station recalling the event. He spent the remainder of his sentence at Reading, addressed only as C33: the occupant of the third cell on the third floor of C ward.
This heavy legacy is undoubtedly felt by the cast, crew, and creative team of this production.
“Oscar’s story reminds me of how lucky I am to exist in a time where I can be queer and accepted,” says Garrett.
“If Oscar Wilde had been able to exist within a time and society that didn’t shun and punish him for being true to his heart, his story would have been a lot less tragic and short. We would perhaps even have more beautiful art created by him.”
“He’s an inspiring figure,” agrees Linnane. “He lived a life that was true to him, in a time where he was up against it. That level of authenticity is inspiring. He lived for love and art, and I think that’s beautiful.”
SEE IT LIVE IN SYDNEY 8–23 November 2024, Joan Sutherland Theatre Sydney Opera House TICKETS HERE
SEE IT VIA LIVESTREAM November 19 TICKETS HERE
#sponsored
