UK Premiere

More Lives Than One - Oscar Wilde and the Black Douglas

With Leslie Clack
Directed by Patricia Kessler

Outrageous Wildean wit and his tragic self-destruction in Leslie Clack's high-octane tour de force.

'Brilliant ... magical performance!' (Oscar Wilde Society).

'Sparkling, intense ... a gem' (Oxford Society).

Oscar Wilde, not only in his works but also in his private and sometimes very public life, flouted the strict morality of 1890s Victorian England.

The English establishment, to punish him for his overt homosexuality and his extravagant style set out to destroy him.

Wilde, mortally wounded by his punishment took refuge in France, that 'terre d'asile' where he was always appreciated.

His plays are performed all over the world, as well as in Paris at the moment. Wilde is one of the monuments of English literature.

This show, with extracts from his comedies as well as his other works, and scenes from his trials, presents the fantastic highs and tragic lows of the short but dazzling life of the great Oscar Wilde. “More Lives Than One, was originally inspired by Michael macLiammoir’s “The Importance of Being Oscar" and Les Clack loosely based his text on MacLiamor’s style and structure. “More Lives Than One” was first produced at the Sudden Theatre in Paris, then went to the south of France, and theatres in the Paris region. A command peformance took place at the British Embassy in March 2008. The production has been given support from the Oscar Wilde Society in Paris as well as the Oxford and Cambridge societies.

“This is a gem of an Oscar Wilde show if you have a chance to get there in time." -Peter Salinson. Cambridge Society, Paris

“'Do go to see Les Clack's one man show on Oscar Wilde at the Sudden Theatre. Les is brilliant. You are not going to forget him as Lady Bracknell, or acting Edward Carson in his cross examination of Wilde, and Wilde with his witty replies, finally crumbling to disaster..”

“I am not going to forget Les Clack waddling across the stage as Lady Bracknell or acting Edward Carson in his cross examination of Oscar Wilde.”
Arthur Hohler of the Oxford University Society