host posted on February 13, 2012 09:26
EPAF Oscar Wilde
An iconic celebrity from Victorian London comes to life this week on stage in South Padre Island. The El Paseo Arts Foundation is bringing back William Strong in his new one-man show as Oscar Wilde. Anyone who saw Strong’s previous brilliant appearance here as Mark Twain, will need no urging to see this one. But it is even more tantalizing to think of revisiting the turbulent and volatile life of one of England’s most witty and penetrating commentators on Victorian values which he pillories for their absurdities.
Wilde’s plays and novels are brimful of biting social criticism and clever word play, yet his life is darkened with the tragedy of being persecuted for his sexuality. It brings his story to an end with a chapter of scandal and intrigue. It also gives rise to his most poignant writing. But his life and work remain a remarkable gift to literature and hilarious insights into Victorian norms. Over the century since his death, his reputation as a figure who stood for art, an original thinker, a great writer and a great man has emerged.
Even in his lifetime, Wilde’s fame crossed the ocean as his plays and novels gained notoriety in North America. Inevitably, the man followed and this portion of Strong’s performance is based on the writer’s characteristically sardonic observations about our land. In his U.S. tour he traveled to Galveston and San Antonio and left a trail of his observations of what he found. To anticipate the tone of his travel impressions we have only to recall of some his most famous quips about his countrymen.
Thirty-five is a very attractive age. London society is full of women of the very highest birth who have, of their own free choice, remained thirty-five for years.
Or a personal revelation about himself:
To get back my youth I would do anything in the world, except take exercise, get up early or be respectable.
It will surely be revealing to hear his impressions of Texas.
He also talks about his most famous works, A Picture of Dorian Gray and The Importance of Being Earnest and recounts the painful time of his trial and years in prison. For the trial, Mr. Strong will be joined by John Cook as the prosecutor. This was the inspiration for some of Wilde’s most touching poetry. Characteristically, however, the show bristles with the caustic wit, irrepressible humor and underlying critique of social norms that were his trademarks.
As Wilde himself said, I have put my talent into writing, my genius I have saved for living.
The performance takes place in the Hilton Garden Inn on Tuesday February 21. Hors d’oeuvres are at 6:30 and curtain time 7:30 p.m. Tickets are available at SPI Visitors Center, Paragraphs Book Store, Designer Consigner, online at
www.elpaseoarts.org and at the door if still available.