NY Times
His style was his umbrella, his armor, his all-purpose defense system, and for many years it seemed to shelter Oscar Wilde most effectively. There came a moment, however, in 1895 when the playwright was betrayed by his own wit, after which he would never again be able to gain control of his life. In the absolutely gripping GROSS INDECENCY: THE THREE TRIALS OF OSCAR WILDE, written and directed with a scintillating style of its own by Moisés Kaufman, that moment is identified with such startling precision and clarity that it feels like the inexorable moment of reversal in a classic tragedy.
Washington Post
A triumph...truth, purity, and simplicity suffuse [this] thoroughly engrossing new play...sweeps away cobwebs and distortions, allowing complex, credible human beings to emerge from history.
Time
A dazzling coup de theatre, at once compelling history and chilling human drama.
NY Newsday
Stunning...taut, shattering, yet delightfully exuberant...altogether fascinating.
From the Publisher
"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
Library Journal
Two-time Tony Award winner Kaufman's 1998 play about the Oscar Wilde trials is reinvigorated through this present-day live recording of the production starring Simon Templeman, Julian Sands, Peter Paige, J.B. Blanc, Dakin Matthews, Ian Ogilvy, John Vickery, Douglas Weston, and Matthew Wolf. Kaufman craftily incorporates court transcripts, newspaper accounts, and other historical documents to convey the complexity of emotion and enmity surrounding Wilde's trials and the threat his sexuality held for Victorian England. The narrative is greatly enhanced by the cast's strong performances; Templeman in particular manages, as Wilde, to oscillate deftly between the play's alternating serious emotional moments and its comedic ones. A superb bonus interview with Kaufman helps to clarify some of his creative decisions and the goals of the performance. For fans of comedies, courtroom dramas, and Wilde as well as for those wishing to understand better the view of sex and censorship in Victorian England.—Lance Eaton, Peabody, MA
APRIL 2011 - AudioFile
Through first-person accounts, newspaper stories, and trial records, we hear how the Marquis of Queensbury publicly revealed his son’s homosexual liaison with Wilde, after which the author unsuccessfully sued him for libel, setting off the chain of events that resulted in Wilde’s imprisonment, self-exile, and early death. This L.A. Theatre Works production boasts an exciting pace and a wonderful turn by Simon Templeman as Wilde. The script, however, lacks finesse, clumsily jumbling drama and documentary. The supporting performances are uneven. For those interested in the subject, this reviewer recommends the far superior TRIALS OF OSCAR WILDE that Martin Jarvis recorded a decade ago for CSA Word, in which he stunningly plays all the male roles. Y.R. © AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine
