Oscar Wilde : a Play by Leslie & Sewell Stokes

New York : Random House, 1938

First published in 1937 in Britain and having been first performed in 1936 at London's Gate Theatre Studio, Oscar Wilde : A Play by Leslie and Sewell Stokes is tightly focused on Wilde's trials; first his libel suit against the Marquess of  Queensberry followed by his trials for gross indecency. His experience in prison is not discussed except in passing after his release. The focus is so tight, in fact, that several characters and events are simply not included. Completely absent are Lady Wilde (Wilde's mother) and Constance (Wilde's wife). Wilde's bankruptcy while imprisoned is also not discussed, although there is an acknowledgement late in the play of Oscar's need for monetary assistance from friends. Interestingly, Wilde's friend, the controversial author and journalist, Frank Harris appears as a character.

While Lester Cohen's play on the same topic from 1928 uses Wildean epigrams to create a true comedy in its early acts, the Stokes' present the story as straightforward drama. A few epigrams are used early on but they are used sparingly and there is even a comment by one of the characters that don't feel they are appropriate to the seriousness of the situation.

In this telling of the story, blessed by Lord Alfred 'Bosie' Douglas who wrote the forward, we see a very different Lord Alfred. Gone is the spoiled young man using Oscar as a means to attack his father, the Marquess, for all of the wrongs he felt were done him. Here, Oscar and Lord Alfred present a united front where they come to agreement on how to proceed at each stage. Based on the attention given, there is a particular defensiveness regarding Lord Alfred's absence during Wilde's imprisonment and his subsequent release. This is explained, in part, by Douglas' family's financial control over him — no contact with Wilde, or he would lose his allowance. For Wilde's part, he explains Lord Alfred's absence when he is released from prison as due to his friends withholding financial support if he and Douglas reunited.

Left: Oscar Wilde : Tre Atti by Niccolò De' Colli
Firenze : Gruppo di cultura fiorentino degl'ISVICI, 1933
Right: Le procès d'Oscar Wilde : Pièce Inédite, en Trois Actes
Précédés d'un Prélude by Maurice Rostand
Paris : [publisher not identified], 1935

Just as Cohen's 1928 play was preceded by two non-English plays on the subject in the 1920s, the Stokes' play was also preceded by two European works in the 1930s. The first, an Italian work titled Oscar Wilde : Tre Atti by Niccolò De' Colli was published in 1933. The second, a French work titled Le procès d'Oscar Wilde : Pièce Inédite, en Trois Actes Précédés d'un Prélude by Maurice Rostand was published in 1935. An English language production of this French work was originally to be produced in London by Mr. Norman Marshall but a conversation with Lord Alfred Douglas who was outraged at its inaccuracies (largely that Douglas never saw Wilde again after he was imprisoned) led to the idea being scrapped in favor of producing an original work, the result being the Stokes' play.

It's not surprising that so many plays were written and produced during the second and third decades of the 20th century. European countries continued to be more socially permissive and were destinations for British gay men who felt unsafe after the Wilde ordeal. By the end of the 1930s with the rise of fascism in Europe, that would all begin to change.

Bibliographies & Ratings: Cory (IV); Garde (P, 62 **); Mattachine Review (IV); Young (3662)