Oscar Wilde News

Yes, it's snowing outside, but soon Spring and Summer will be upon us. That means The Shaw Festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Canada, will beckon. The Shaw is one of the two major Canadian theatre festivals, the other being The Shakespeare Festival in Stratford, Ontario. Both are high quality venues.

FRIGID New York Presents The Theatre Elusive's production of Love in the Time of Time Machines, written by David Tichauer & Ned Petrie and directed by Chris Gibbs. Starring Gillian English, David Tichauer and Ned Petrie, the production will play UNDER St. Marks, 94 St. Mark's Place (between 1st Ave and Ave A, NYC), February 20 through March 3, 2013.

Festival Stage of Winston-Salem continues its third season of professional theatre with a production of Moises Kaufman's new drama 33 Variations, presented at Hanesbrands Theatre (209 N. Spruce Street, Winston-Salem) from tonight, Feb. 1 to Feb. 24.

Few plays have stood the test of time in the way that The Importance of Being Earnest has. Written in 1895, this 'Serious Comedy for Trivial People,' as playwright Oscar Wilde termed it, offers situations and comedy that remain timeless and fresh. The characters are memorable, from the careless and self-centered Jack to the innocent and impressionable Cecily. Wilde skewers Victorian society in a manner that leaves audiences laughing from start to finish.

Cygnet Theatre, currently halfway through their tenth anniversary season, is getting fired up about the next lineup of plays and musicals that they're preparing for their eleventh season. Cygnet Artistic Director Sean Murray and Executive Director Bill Schmidt have assembled a package of plays and musicals for the 2013-2014 season that they feel just may be their most exciting yet. Cygnet's eleventh season will feature seven productions performed in their home, the Old Town Theatre in Old Town San Diego State Historic Park, including two plays performed in a rotating repertory, two musicals, two San Diego premieres and a holiday revival. 'The scripts that we have assembled all went through the 'is-this-exciting?' filter!' says Murray. 'We feel that we have put together a line-up that continues to serve our eclectic, artistic-whiplash tastes here at Cygnet. All of the stories in next season's list concern relationships, love and the challenges of making personal connections.'

Oscar Wilde's satirical comedy A Woman of No Importance was first performed in 1893, but Paul Hardy, who directs this production for Alumnae Theatre Company, decided to transpose it to the mid 1980s. That being the era of Margaret Thatcher, Ronald Reagan and 'power dressing', it highlights the fact that for all our progress, the 1% still control the 99%, and women are still subject to more social scrutiny and censure than men.

Following a hugely acclaimed and record-breaking sell out run at Hampstead Theatre, Neil Armfield's production of David Hare's The Judas Kiss just transferred to the West End. The cast features Rupert Everett and Freddie Fox in the lead roles of Oscar Wilde and Lord AlFred Douglas, performances which won them universal acclaim, they are joined by Cal Macaninch in the role of Robert Ross. The cast also includes Ben Hardy, Kirsty Oswald, Alister Cameron and Tom Colley.

Following a hugely acclaimed and record-breaking sell out run at Hampstead Theatre, Neil Armfield's production of David Hare's The Judas Kiss just transferred to the West End. The cast features Rupert Everett and Freddie Fox in the lead roles of Oscar Wilde and Lord AlFred Douglas, performances which won them universal acclaim, they are joined by Cal Macaninch in the role of Robert Ross. The cast also includes Ben Hardy, Kirsty Oswald, Alister Cameron and Tom Colley. Check out photos from opening night below!

David Hare's play The Judas Kiss dips into the most controversial years of playwright and poet Oscar Wilde's life, as his success began to be eclipsed by accusations about his homosexuality.

The Greenville Little Theatre (GLT) is proud to present Sherlock Holmes & The Case of the Jersey Lily by Katie Forgette, debuting on February 22. Holmes and Watson are out to stop the evil Professor Moriarty in this escapade that includes lies, lilies, mistaken identities, and mayhem. This is a delightful story in which the mystery and adventure of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle meets the wit of Oscar Wilde.

Walnut Street Theatre continues its landmark 204th season with an all-new production of Oscar Wilde's dramatic masterpiece AN IDEAL HUSBAND. This classic comedy, directed by Malcolm Black, begins previews on January 15th, opens on January 23rd and runs through March 3rd on the WST Mainstage.

According to The Daily Mail, Stephen Fry will play Lady Bracknell in The Importance of Being Earnest at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, beginning fall of 2014.

Walnut Street Theatre continues its landmark 204th season with an all-new production of Oscar Wilde's dramatic masterpiece AN IDEAL HUSBAND. This classic comedy, directed by Malcolm Black, begins previews tonight, January 15th, opens on January 23rd and runs through March 3rd on the WST Mainstage.

Oscar Wilde's satirical comedy A Woman of No Importance was first performed in 1893, but Paul Hardy, who directs this production for Alumnae Theatre Company, decided to transpose it to the mid 1980s. That being the era of Margaret Thatcher, Ronald Reagan and 'power dressing', it highlights the fact that for all our progress, the 1% still control the 99%, and women are still subject to more social scrutiny and censure than men.

Casting Paula Plum as Katherine Brandt in Moisés Kaufman's 33 VARIATIONS was a no-brainer for Lyric Stage Artistic Director Spiro Veloudos. Her performance is courageous and heartfelt, and she and pianist Catherine Stornetta are the linchpins that give the play its heart and its soul.

Olio Theatre Works welcomes award-winning director Gigi Fusco Meese as director when it brings back the timely drama INTIMATELY WILDE to the Long Beach Playhouse's Studio Theatre tonight, January 11th - 27, 2013 as a part of the 2nd Annual "People's Theatrical Collaborative".

Votes are cast, polls are closed, and results have been tabulated! This was our BIGGEST year yet! After a record number of voters in over 30 regions worldwide, BroadwayWorld is VERY excited to announce the 2012 Boston Winners! Thanks to all who voted and HUGE congrats to all the winners!

Today in 1939, The Importance of Being Earnest opened at the Vanderbilt Theatre, where it ran for 61 performances. Written by Oscar Wilde, the show was first performed on 14 February 1895 at St. James's Theatre in London, it is a farcical comedy in which the protagonists maintain fictitious personae in order to escape burdensome social obligations. Working within the social conventions of late Victorian London, the play's major themes are the triviality with which it treats institutions as serious as marriage, and the resulting satire of Victorian ways. Its high farce and witty dialogue have helped make The Importance of Being Earnest Wilde's most enduringly popular play.

TheatreWorks, the nationally acclaimed theatre of Silicon Valley, presents World Premiere BEING EARNEST, a new musical take on Oscar Wilde's comic masterpiece from Paul Gordon (TheatreWorks' hits Emma, Daddy Long Legs, and Broadway's Jane Eyre) and Grammy and Emmy-nominated songwriter Jay Gruska. Set in 1964 London, this lively and lyrical adaptation moves The Importance of Being Earnest to a bachelor flat near Carnaby Street, where the exuberance of mod fashion, music, and morality inspires a quartet of lovers and incurs the wrath of Lady Bracknell, the cantankerous keeper of tradition's flame.

Tickets to the Shaw Festival's season of eleven compelling productions go on sale online, by fax or by mail to the general public on January 9, 2013. Telephone lines open and in person sales begin January 12. Early ordering prices are in effect until the end of the month.