Rupert Everett plays Oscar Wilde at Theatre Royal Brighton
Oscar gold
Hollywood star Rupert Everett plays Oscar Wilde with Freddie Fox as Lord Alfred Douglas (Bosie) in David Hare’s witty and compelling drama, The Judas Kiss, about the power of all consuming love and the cruelty of betrayal.
It is 1895 and Wilde’s masterpiece, The Importance Of Being Earnest, is playing in the West End after a triumphant premiere but already the wheels are in motion which will lead to his imprisonment, downfall and vilification.
Forced to make a choice between his beautiful but perfidious young lover, Bosie, and freedom, the ever romantic Wilde embarks on a course towards self destruction.
Rupert Everett has been described as giving “the performance of his career” in this role. Everett has championed the work of Oscar Wilde on both stage and screen, and on both sides of the Atlantic. He shot to fame in Julian Mitchell’s play and subsequent film of Another Country. He made his Broadway debut in 2009 in Blithe Spirit and recently starred in Pygmalion in the West End. He is currently starring in the BBC adaptation of Ford Madox Ford’s Parade’s End.
Playing Bosie is Freddie Fox, one of the most exciting young actors in the UK. His West End roles include Noël Coward’s Hay Fever and Terence Rattigan’s Cause Célèbre.
David Hare is a major figure on the British and international stage. He is the author of 28 plays, 16 of which have been staged at the National Theatre. His award-winning work includes Racing Demon, Plenty, Amy’s View, Skylight, The Permanent Way and Stuff Happens. He was Oscar nominated for The Hours and The Reader, and he was the recipient of the 2011 PEN/Pinter Prize, which is awarded to a British writer of outstanding literary merit in memory of Harold Pinter.
Asked about the challenge of writing dialogue for a man so renowned for his way with words, Hare commented: “I had a very particular take on Wilde. I wanted to dispel so many of the clichés that have accrued and I hated the prospect of Wilde spouting lines the audience knew already. The play shows the privately exposed side of a man who took great care to hide behind a public mask.”
Do not miss this superb piece of contemporary drama which visits Brighton as part of a very limited UK tour.
The Judas Kiss, Monday 5–Saturday 10 November, £19–£35, 7.45pm plus 2.30pm matinee Thursday and Saturday, Box Office: 0844 871 7650 (booking fee), www.atgtickets.com/brighton
