Photos ©  Barry Parsons

There are some wild ideas that will only ever work as live theatre, and as ever they rely on a mighty suspension of disbelief. The recent offering from Sewell Barn Theatre is indeed wild, and also Wilde. John Wolfson has written an engaging drama that puts a clinical focus on the life of Lord Alfred Douglas, also known as Bosie, the object of Oscar Wilde’s affection and the agent of his demise.

The disbelief may spring from the basic premise of the drama, which is that a young Bosie and an elderly Lord Alfred find themselves in conversation at different stages of their same life. But it works, and is based on a meticulous research of the life of this troubled character. It gives us a valuable insight into the character of Douglas and perhaps more importantly the role of the repressed homosexuality at the heart of the English aristocracy and ruling class.

Director Selwyn Tillett has a lifelong friendship with the playwright and together they have presented the Sewell Barn audience with a remarkable performance. Three actors give us a taut performance with Rob Fradley-Wilde taking on the role of the ageing Lord Alfred, Jeremiah Humphreys-Piercy as the young Bosie and Jonathan Cooke playing all other characters including Oscar Wilde, the Marquess of Queensbury (the notorious pugilist), a lawyer and a Sapphic poet. That’s quite a range of people to depict.

The two principal performers are both outstanding in their roles and make this drama work. They give us a lucid picture of an early twentieth century England where the sons of the aristocracy progress from private school to Oxford University and often directly into government, while enjoying a lifestyle of rampant priapic homosexuality at a time when it was dangerously illegal and risked blackmail or worse. We see how the young and libidinous Bosie turns into a capricious and malevolent vexatious litigant, attempting to use the court system to pursue his private vendettas. He invariably fails, but unlike us mere plebs he has the cushion of nobility and inherited wealth to fall back on and lick his wounds.

Overall this was an impressive theatrical experience and I suspect it could have filled the theatre for many more performances than the handful offered. It is a production that I could see doing very well in other venues although I can understand that the Sewell Barn
crew are an experienced team who make the very best use of their atmospheric venue and may not wish to spread their wings too far. The closeness of the audience to the performers in the Barn gives an intimacy which helps us to believe the basic premise of this bold play. A triumph for the writer, director and actors and all who helped them to make it happen.

© Julian Swainson, Norwich Eye, 6 December 2024.