The Wildes: A Novel in Five Acts

By opening with a heartfelt letter from Oscar Wilde to his wife Constance, Bayard (Jackie & Me) sets the tone for this five-act production that follows the Wilde family leading up to and after Wilde’s imprisonment for his romantic relationship with Lord Alfred Douglas, known as Bosie. Later sections of the book follow the couple’s eldest son, Cyril, who fought in the trenches during WWI, and younger son, Vyvyan, who confronts his father’s long-time lover. Elizabeth Rodgers narrates most of the novel, which is told from Constance’s point of view and beautifully describes her and her family’s’ lives and sensibilities. Rodgers skillfully embodies each character’s emotional range: Constance, a trusting wife until Oscar’s betrayal is revealed; Oscar as the witty and smooth-talking husband; Oscar’s friend Arthur, who is pained when Constance rejects him; and Oscar’s mother, Lady Wilde, whose levity is enlivened with an animated Scottish brogue. Additional narrators are Damian Lynch, who deftly relates Cyril’s experiences during the Great War, and P.J. Ochlan, who voices the adult Vyvyan, exuding disgust and anger when he encounters Lord Alfred in public. Interstitial sections separating the acts are engagingly voiced by Bayard and Lynch.