Dramaturgy Gross Indecency PDF

Preview

Summary

Dramaturgy Analysis for Gross Indecency...

Description

GROSS INDECENCY Dramaturgy Analysis Gross Indecency The play Gross Indecency: the Three Trials of Oscar Wilde was written by Moisés Kaufman and the Dramaturg for the play was Stephen Wangh.1 Gross Indecency was first performed Off-Broadway in 1997-1998 at the Greenwich House. As a director, Kaufman has several Tony and Emmy nominations. Kaufman is also an award-winning playwright, known for his works highlighting issues in sexuality. He was born on November 21 of 1963 in Caracas, Venezuela to Orthodox Jewish parents. Kaufman is of Ukrainian and Romanian descent. As a child, he attended a yeshiva, or Jewish religious school, where he received little outside influence. He attended a Caracas theatre festival as a teenager where he was introduced to the works of his earliest literary influences. He received a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Business Administration in 1985 from Metropolitan University, in Caracas. Soon, he began his acting degree after joining an experimental touring theatre group. Kaufman moved to New York City in 1987 to study theatre directing at the Tisch School of the Arts. During this time, he directed small plays where he developed new ideas of presenting theatrical performances. In 1991, he cofounded the Tectonic Theatre Project which was dedicated to examining social issues in theatric performances. Gross Indecency was Kaufman’s first play, demonstrating his interest in “watershed historical moments.”2 The casting for Gross Indecency could be done with as little as nine actors. One should be a woman to play Queen Victoria and Constance Wilde. Another actor would solely play Oscar Wilde, while all other actors would have several characters. The set for the play has two distinct 1 Kaufman, Moises. Gross indecency: the three trials of Oscar Wilde. New York, NY: Playbill, 1997. 2 Kuiper, Kathleen. “Moises Kaufman.” Encyclopædia Britannica. November 27, 2016. Accessed February 06, 2017. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Moises-Kaufman.Drama/

areas: the first is the elevated court room and the second is on the same level with audience. The second area will hold a table where narrators read quotes from the books. All costume and set changes would take place on the stage by the actors. Gross Indecency will require several books and newspapers published during the time of the three trials, including the magazine The Chameleon.3 Gross Indecency: the Three Trials of Oscar Wilde describes each of the three trials involving Oscar Wilde using personal interviews, journal and magazine articles, and other primary sources. The first trial began after Lord Alfred Douglas convinced Oscar Wilde to pursue prosecuting Douglas’ father, the Marquess of Queensberry, for accusing Oscar Wilde of “posing somdomite.” Wilde was advised by his lawyers to drop the charges against the Marquess, because the Marquess had gathered previous lovers of Oscar Wilde and convinced those lovers to testify Wilde’s sodomy. Although Wilde did drop the charges, the Marquess of Queensberry had gathered enough evidence for the English Crown to consider prosecuting Oscar Wilde, leading to the second trial.4 During the second trial, Oscar Wilde was tried in court for “gross indecency with male persons,” which Queen Victoria had announced would be convicted as a misdemeanor with a sentence of no more than two years with or without hard labor years prior. While on trial, Wilde’s plays being performed in London were closed. Wilde’s income and assets were seized, leading him to a time of poverty. Wilde spoke passionately of the “love that dare not speak its name” and the trial ended with a hung jury. The third trial resulted from the hung jury in the second trial. Wilde was convicted of gross indecency and sentenced to the maximum punishment of two years imprisonment with hard labor. 5 3 Kaufman. 4 Ibid. 5 Ibid.

At the end of play, Kaufman provided a summary of the events following Wilde’s imprisonment. Wilde’s wife left with his children and changed their names. Wilde did not write much for the rest of his life. Douglas converted to Catholicism, got married and had children. Wilde injured his ear in prison and, since it went untreated, he died three years later from an infection.6 Oscar Wilde was born to William and Esparanza Wilde in 1854. He had two siblings, a younger brother, Willis, and older sister, Isola, who died of meningitis at nine years old. William was well-known as an ophthalmologist and formed the Poor Clinic in Dublin. He was knighted for his work in 1864. William had an affair leading to two illegitimate daughters whose mother (Mary Travers) sued for paternity and won, so William died leaving a small inheritance to his legitimate children. Oscar attended a preparatory boarding school in Fairmont and then went to Magdalen College at Oxford University. After marrying Constance and having two children, Constance miscarried their third child. Wilde was then introduced to Robert Ross who brought Wilde into the world of male prostitution, drugs, and absinthe. From there, Wilde experienced a downhill fall. The play Gross Indecency includes several thematic issues that remain controversial from the era the play was written to the present. These themes include LGBT rights, the idea of morality, art, love, and justice. In the play, the most obvious theme was LGBT rights since the trials dealt directly with Wilde’s sexual relations. However, the more subtle themes of art and morality seem to be Kaufman’s most important motifs. As Oscar Wilde mentioned in the play, art is good based on the quality, not on the subject. As far as morality is concerned, every individual has a different sense of right or wrong, and, therefore, morality cannot be concretely described.

6 Ibid.

Morality is an abstract subject and the play describes Wilde as believing his relations were moral, even though the court considered them immoral.7 Considering casting, we do not have enough men to cast the play because we only have about thirteen men eligible for casting and we need at least eight or nine men, which would limit the number of men available to participate in the other plays. This seems to be a simple scenic play, however, props would be more difficult and expensive. The LGBT movement has gained ground in past years and I don’t believe this play would be too controversial for the local audiences. This play is also more concerned with the works and morality of Oscar Wilde and their importance than the discussion of his sexuality. However, most young audiences would not remain entertained with the progression of this play. Although this is a great play, I don’t think we could successfully cast enough men to produce the play and I don’t believe we could gather enough of a college audience to budget the play.

Bibliography 7 Kaufman.

Kaufman, Moises. Gross indecency: the three trials of Oscar Wilde. New York, NY: Playbill, 1997. Kuiper, Kathleen. “Moises Kaufman.” Encyclopædia Britannica. November 27, 2016. Accessed February 06, 2017. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Moises-Kaufman.Drama/...