Latest news with #Wilde
Spectator
13 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Spectator
Is Stephen Fry the right choice to play Lady Bracknell?
Last year, the National Theatre staged The Importance of Being Earnest in a new production by Max Webster. It attracted mixed reviews from critics and audiences alike, who applauded its determination to do something new – to re-queer Wilde for a younger audience, if you like – but also dared to suggest that Ncuti Gatwa, who played Algernon Moncrieff, was not the most comfortable casting for Wilde's protagonist. Still, Gatwa is a big name and pulled in the crowds, and so it was little surprise that, for the play's inevitable West End transfer, similarly starry names had to be produced. The first was Olly Alexander, the pop singer and actor, and now it has been revealed that none other than Sir Stephen Fry, the recently knighted national treasure himself, will be donning drag to play Lady Bracknell. The idea of male actors playing one of Wilde's greatest roles is nothing particularly surprising. Over the past few years, Geoffrey Rush and David Suchet have both given their Bracknells, as it were, and the idea of a superb classical actor taking on such a dynamic part is an exciting opportunity. Fry, however, is nobody's idea of a leading classical actor. His last major role on stage was as Malvolio in the Globe's Twelfth Night in 2012, and although he received decent notices, he was overshadowed by Mark Rylance as Olivia. (It was, naturally, an all-male production, something that would be almost inconceivable now.) Otherwise, he has largely opted for television and film over theatre, to mixed returns. His performance as Wilde in the eponymous 1997 film was a triumph of humanity, wit and obvious identification with the great playwright. Other roles have been less obviously distinguished. And of course he has his own unhappy associations with the theatre. Notoriously, he fled to Brussels in 1995 after being upset by the reviews for his performance in Simon Gray's Cell Mates, a saga of which his website now says, 'The experience still haunts him, but the depression has now faded to embarrassment and the anger to forgiveness.' Let us hope that Fry's return to the stage this autumn makes for a happier experience. He has a clear identification with Wilde and his works, and said of his casting that 'Oscar Wilde has been a hugely important figure in my life and career and The Importance of Being Earnest is a play that changed my life when I first saw it aged ten. It made me understand what language can do and absolutely transported me. Wilde is a beacon to people who still believe in open thinking and adventuring with the mind and spirit.' Few would disagree. Yet there is another question to be asked, too. The role of Lady Bracknell was played at the National by Sharon D Clarke, a fine actress of infinite range, and it seems a strange decision not to at least consider bringing Clarke back, or at the very least casting another grande dame of London theatre in the role to balance Alexander – another actor who has not appeared on stage in over a decade – in the lead. I would have loved to have seen, say, Cate Blanchett or Gillian Anderson in the part, or if the role had to be cast with a man, what someone like Roger Allam or, indeed, Mark Rylance would have done with the Lady. Still, perhaps it is not worth being too exercised by this piece of stunt casting. The Importance of Being Earnest is like London buses, or the Holy Trinity – you wait ages for one, and then three come along at once – and there will undoubtedly be another, more traditional production in due course. (Also, the casting of that great comedian Hugh Dennis as Canon Chasuble could be a coup.) Yet I fear that this is pandering to West End audiences who demand Big Stars at all costs. Fry is clearly a great lover of all things Wilde, and this may be a dream come true for him. Likewise, his presence will bring in the crowds, just as Gatwa's did. However, whether they were really the best actors for the role, or just the most bankable names, is a question that hangs over this particular Earnest.
The Herald Scotland
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Herald Scotland
We should celebrate Oscar Wilde as a mould-breaking feminist
One a playwright adored by society and then destroyed by its hypocritical condemnation of his homosexuality; the other the first socialite to appear on stage, who captivated and scandalised in equal measure (this included her affair with the Prince of Wales – complete with sojourns in a Scottish love nest). They were powerhouses for change. Wilde gave us the self-actualised female protagonist who apologises to no one. What's more he approached the female characters in his plays from all different angles. Some are martyrs (The Duchess of Padua), some are righteous warriors (Vera); some are ridiculous (Lady Bracknell), some are conniving (Mrs Cheverly) or vindictive (Salomé); some are philosophical (Mrs Allonby), some are frivolously shallow (Mabel Chiltern); many buck conventional domesticity and reliance on a husband; all are fiercely independent thinkers, like his own mother, Lady Jane Wilde, a poetess 'who was considered to be the most ardent and hot-headed of Irish Nationalists'. It's difficult to overstate how important this was for modern theatre and literature. Soon other playwrights followed suit by portraying women as individual beings untethered to husband or family. George Bernard Shaw wrote Mrs. Warren's Profession soon after seeing the opening performance of Wilde's Lady Windermere's Fan, and the similarities in social politics and the nonconformist mother roles are undeniable. August Strindberg and Anton Chekhov subsequently adopted the style of creating more psychologically complex female characters at the turn of the 20th century. The direction of Western theatre and literature irrevocably shifted. Wilde gave audiences a multitude of memorable characters and quotes such as Mrs Cheverly's quip in An Ideal Husband: 'The strength of women comes from the fact that psychology cannot explain us. Men can be analysed; women… merely adored.' Contrasts between the sexes are a common theme in his social comedies: In A Woman of No Importance, Mrs Allonby ironically argues against the conjecture that wives' frivolity were what made marriages unhappy: 'How can a woman be expected to be happy with a man who insists on treating her as if she was a perfectly rational being?... We have always been picturesque protests against the mere existence of common sense. We saw its dangers from the first.' Something else I realised in the nine years I've spent researching Wilde was that his impact on the role of women wasn't restricted to fictional worlds. His relationship with Langtry was crucial to her rise to stardom, and she in turn influenced his poetry and playwriting. He dedicated poems to her and based the character of Mrs Erlynne in Lady Windermere's Fan on Langtry's life experience. And Langtry's life and personality were every bit as outsized as Wilde's characters. Both deserve wider recognition. This is something I hope to contribute to at the Edinburgh Fringe with my one-woman play Wilde Women which celebrates how they strengthened women's voices on the stage using humour, grit and grace. Krista Scott is the writer and performer of Wilde Women, which she is presenting at the 2025 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. She is a well-known actor, director and dialect coach and Professor of Theatre at Texas Christian University in the USA.
News18
19-07-2025
- Sport
- News18
'He Isn't Someone Who Asks For Loads Of Data But...': RCB Analyst Lauds Virat Kohli
Last Updated: Freddie Wilde has lauded Virat Kohli's strategic brilliance, aligning instincts with data. Royal Challengers Bengaluru data analyst Freddie Wilde has said that during team meetings within the franchise where he shares his numerical inputs, Virat Kohli contributes as well, not with numbers but with his analyses, which remarkably fit with the data. Kohli has already called time on his T20I career after India's winning T20 World Cup campaign last year. A generational talent and one of the best all-format batters cricket has seen, Kohli scored 9230 runs at an average of 46.85 in Tests, including 30 hundreds. Wilde, speaking on the Love of Cricket podcast, has given some insights into Kohli's strategic brilliance during team meetings. 'You can see Virat's cricketing brain kicks in at those moments. We have team meetings, batting meetings and I'll often lead those by sharing data, bowler by bowler, their patterns, phases and matchups," Wilde said while speaking to Jos Buttler on the podcast. 'What is brilliant is how Virat contributes. He picks up stuff that the data doesn't always show. He's not someone who asks for loads of data, but what is reassuring is how his gut instinct often lines up perfectly with the analytics," Wilde said. Meanwhile, ace New Zealand batter Kane Williamson has lauded Kohli's contributions to Test cricket, two months after the latter decided to quit the traditional format, in what came as a shocking decision to some. 'Someone like Virat, so many great moments throughout the international game, but the bond outside of the pitch is something that is far more special and those experiences that have been shared," Williamson said while speaking to The Times of India. 'All good things come to an end and the way he has been able to make those decisions that feel comfortable to him. It has been incredible going out on his terms etc, although he is still involved in one of the formats," Williamson added. view comments Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Irish Examiner
19-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Examiner
Book review: A captivating read that's hard to forget
Lisa Harding's third novel is about relationships, obsession, control, and guilt. Jessica and Linda have been best friends since their first day at school. Both are from homes which are broken in different ways. Growing up, Linda spent most of her time at Jessica's house, where stepmother Sue was loving and supportive to both girls. When they reach 18, they seize the opportunity for a new life at Wilde, an elite university in Dublin. Narrated by Jessica, the novel opens with her first appointment with a therapist. Her husband has left her, and it is decades after the events at Wilde which have shaped her life. Dr Collins suggests she writes down her memories and they are intertwined with Jessica's reactions to the therapist who challenges her perceptions of her own behaviour years before. From the beginning there is an underlying tension as the reader knows that a tragic event happened at Wilde in 1992 but has to wait to find out about it until almost the end of the novel. Jessica is not a likeable character, she is self-absorbed, she has always been the dominant one in her friendship with Linda, and once they are in Dublin she decides how much Sue will feature in her life. She's used to always being in the lead, both on stage and in life. Once at Wilde, the girls quickly start to grow apart as Jessica becomes more self-involved and focuses on her acting and her French boyfriend Jacques. She pushes Linda aside, who eventually meets Mark, a philosophy student a few years older than them. He's also a playwright, and controlling. He helps Linda grow independent of Jessica, but he also speaks for her, even dresses her. Though Jessica hates him on sight, she becomes involved with Mark through her love of acting. His influence on both girls draws them into dark, manipulative events. Jessica is an interesting, well fleshed out character. She struggles at Wilde with how others react to her, she is used to being in charge and now she has to cope with others who are not prepared to let her get away with her selfishness, her unkindness, her jealousy. Sadly, she is aware of her flaws but cannot stop herself. It is only decades later that, through her therapist's help, she understands herself and what was happening. The narrative moves between the present and the past, so we learn about Jessica's memories but also her own analysis of her past. This immerses the reader in the process of reconciling trauma and healing. Drawing on her own experience as an actress, Harding gives us a remarkable insight into the career, its challenges, and meaning. Most powerful is her exposure of the influence a director may have in handling his cast. Jessica is so ambitious about a possible acting career that she neglects her studies, the reason she is attending college. Approval means so much to her that when she receives a negative review for a performance she is devastated. The novel explores how our childhoods impact on us and our relationships and exposes the vulnerability of young adults trying to adapt to the world. The main characters have experienced hardship and hurt in some way, which means they are vulnerable to manipulation, obsession and jealousy. They are too young to recognise that they may be experiencing toxic relationships. Harding's style of writing is direct and intense, giving her novel a raw and emotional tone. It's a compelling read, one which will be hard to forget. Read More Author interview: Harding back to college days with love of campus novel
Spectator
11-07-2025
- Politics
- Spectator
Why are so many English people pretending to be Irish?
The Irish problem has existed for centuries, though the nature of that problem is not always easy to define. It used to be political, though relations between English and Irish people on a personal level have usually been harmonious. There are still political problems, because identity – the question of to whom we owe our loyalty – shapes lives and creates communities. But now there is a different problem, and it's one-sided. Many English people are suddenly keen to present an ersatz Irishness to the world, as a form of civic virtue, to the point of claiming citizenship. Some claim to feel 'European', in a vague way. Others feel that being green offers the swiftest route to an ill-defined 'romanticism'. Ah yes, it's that old favourite, the Celtic twilight! Oasis, for instance, those Manchester rockers who have forged a career out of rancid stupidity, are performing on their reunion tour before a tricolour that proclaims 'Ireland Forever'. It's true that Noel and Liam Gallagher were born to Irish parents, though as their father was a drunkard who took out his frustration on his children, theirs is not a story to commend. At recent London gigs by Fontaines D.C. and Kneecap, sizeable numbers of English fans showed up waving Irish tricolours – joining in chants of 'Free Palestine' – are another example of the anthropological oddity. Ed Sheeran, a third-division pop star, has also claimed he is 'culturally Irish', though it invites the question: what kind of culture does he have in mind? Clearly it is not the tradition which produced Synge, Yeats, Wilde, Joyce and Shaw. Nor, going back a bit further, is it the Anglo-Irish culture that gave us Sheridan, Farquhar and Goldsmith. Those writers felt no need to wrap themselves in the flag. Joyce, the great traveller, reckoned most Irish people were happy to be so, but few wanted to live in Ireland. Living in Paris when the Irish Free State was proclaimed, he was offered a green passport – but thought his British one was good enough. Wilde, badgered by a priest who thought he had gone over to the other side, replied it was an honour to live among the race that had given the world Shakespeare, Milton and Keats. Shaw, who lived most of his long life in England, thought that if you put an Irishman on a spit, you would easily find another Irishman to turn it. There have always been England-haters among the Irish tribes that settled elsewhere. In America the Irish element in South Boston has never moved on from an ancestral Anglophobia. Not only the British, either. 'Southee' is notorious for its hostility towards black people. In this country the embers of historical enmity in Liverpool are occasionally prodded into flame. Turn left out of Lime Street station, and you don't have to walk far to find pubs that belittle everything English. It's that fog again, which envelops the descendants of Irish folk who left that myth-encrusted isle decades ago. 'Romantic Ireland's dead and gone', wrote Yeats, whose mind was anything but foggy. 'It's with O'Leary in the grave.' What a stinging rebuke that remains. Ireland has never been greener than green, as Jewish people may confirm. Its people may be jolly and humorous, or they may be petty and vindictive. They may be open-minded, or they may be bigots. In other words, they're much like people anywhere else in the world. As for the 'Irish culture' those balladeers go on about, that really means fiddles in the snug bar, bicycles on the roof, and mugs of porter chased down by tots of whisky. It's not much of a feast. My great friend Stephen Fay could have told the cod-Irish a thing or two. His father Gerard was a star reporter on the Manchester Guardian, and his grandfather Frank helped Yeats establish the Abbey Theatre in Dublin. He told the great writer: 'I admire you as an artist, and despise you as a human being.' Every 'Bloomsday', 16 June, Stephen would gather at the Garrick Club with a group of pals to honour Ulysses and Leopold Bloom – and yes, there would be Burgundy and Gorgonzola sandwiches! When asked how Irish he really was, Stephen would smile and say: 'I'm as green as I need to be.' He was an authentic Irishman, and had the wit to prove it. Meanwhile, if the Irish really are as accommodating as we are told, maybe they can take those ghastly Mancunians off our hands. I'd even risk a glass of stout to toast their departure.
