Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde
Written by Moisés Kauffman
Directed by Peter Wray
In early 1895, the Marquess of Queensberry, the father of Wilde’s young lover, Lord Alfred Douglas, left a card at Wilde’s club accusing Wilde of being a homosexual. Wilde sued the Marquess for criminal libel. The defense denounced Wilde’s art and literature as immoral, leading the prosecuting attorney to declare, “It would appear that what is on trial is not Lord Queensberry but Mr. Wilde’s art!” In the end Queensberry was acquitted, and evidence that had been gathered against Wilde compelled the Crown to prosecute him for “gross indecency with male persons.” With Wilde’s arrest, his hit plays running in London’s West End were forced to close, and Wilde was reduced to penury. Using trial transcripts, personal correspondence, interviews and other source materials, Gross Indecency tells the story of the downfall of the great man of letters whose artistic genius has long been overshadowed by the scandal surrounding his imprisonment.

Tickets are $12 for general admission and $10 for seniors (60+), students, active military and veterans, and the McDaniel College community. For more information, call the box office at 410-857-2448.