The Oscar Wilde BBC Radio Drama Collection
Five Full-Cast Productions
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The Oscar Wilde BBC Radio Drama Collection
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Written by:
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Oscar Wilde
The collected BBC radio productions of the major works of Oscar Wilde, plus bonus play by Neil Bartlett.
Loved for his flamboyant personality, sparkling wit and brilliant epigrams, Oscar Wilde was a comic genius and a literary icon.
This collection reflects the many facets of his dazzling talent. Here are dramatisations of his only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, a Gothic tale of a gilded aristocrat who makes a dangerous pact, as well as four scintillating social comedies – Lady Windermere’s Fan, A Woman of No Importance, The Importance of Being Earnest and An Ideal Husband. Among the distinguished casts are Ian MacDiarmid, Joely Richardson, Edward Fox, Diana Rigg, Martin Clunes, Michael Hordern and Judi Dench.
Moving examples of his correspondence are revealed in The Letters of Oscar Wilde and De Profundis, read by Simon Callow and Simon Russell Beale respectively, and his most famous poem, The Ballad of Reading Gaol, is performed live by stars including Ian McKellen, Neil Tennant and Stephen Fry.
In addition, a bonus drama, In Extremis by Neil Bartlett, starring Corin Redgrave and Sheila Hancock, reimagines Oscar Wilde's hastily arranged sitting with a society palm reader, a week before the trial that would cost him so dearly.
©2019 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2019 BBC Studios Distribution LtdNarration: 6/5 Superb
Writing: 4.5/5 Excellent
Some of it comes across as a bit dated and suited to another place - Victorian England, but never the less the work is timeless about social attitudes and human pettiness. Picture of Dorian Gray is the best in my opinion, and thankfully it comes first. Close to psychological horror. Recommended for anyone interested in aging and vanity - not entirely female concerns. The British (Irish to be exact) author is a famous fin de siècle upper-class man known for his not so private homosexuality (he was criminally prosecuted for moral corruption of a much younger man) and his hilarious wit. He became the editor of Woman's Weekly and wrote many stage-plays such as these. The production qualities of the audio are top-notch, the acting too. Some of the author's non-fiction work is also included, example De Profundis (quote: "where there is sorrow, there is holy ground.").
Wilde is not a hero, he is a morally weak, intellectually sharp creative genius who went to prison and who died due to respiratory complications which began during his incarceration. Wilde was a borderline pederast when there were few strict laws about age of consent. He was both romantically involved and a patron of the rough trade ('rent boys' as the mid-teen male prostitutes were called at the time). His status as a Marilyn Monroe-like icon to educated gay men remains to this day (though some writers are questioning whether 'deserved' because they say he was exploitative). Whatever a reader's opinion is on legal and social matters and whether his character should even be considered relative to literary value, his observations about society are unquestionably astute. I enjoyed learning the literary context for his many quotes.
I liked the entirety of content except the screeching voice of the female narrator in the last piece, 'In Extremis'
Consummate performance
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