A SAMUEL FRENCH, INC. TITLE

The Judas Kiss

Full-Length Play, Drama  /  1w, 6m

David Hare

A compelling depiction of Oscar Wilde just before and after his imprisonment.

The Judas Kiss

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  • Cast Size
    Cast Size
    1w, 6m
  • Duration
    Duration
    More than 120 minutes (2 hours)
  • SubGenre
    Subgenre
    Period, Docudrama/Historic
  • Audience
    Target Audience
    Adult

Details

Summary
Liam Neeson starred on Broadway in this compelling depiction of Oscar Wilde just before and after his imprisonment. Act One captures him in 1895 on the eve of his arrest. He still has a chance to flee to the continent but chooses to let the train leave without him. In the second act, Wilde is in Naples more than two years later, after his release from Reading Gaol. In exile, he is drawn to a reunion with his unworthy lover and a final betrayal.
History

The Judas Kiss premiered at the Almeida Theatre in London on March 12, 1998 and then on Broadway on April 29 under the direction of Richard Eyre.

Keywords
Performing Groups

OSCAR WILDE
LORD ALFRED DOUGLAS
ROBERT ROSS
ARTHUR WELLESLEY
PHOEBE CANE
SANDY MOFFATT
GALILEO MASCONI

  • Time Period Victorian (British and American)
  • Setting London 1895 and Italy 1897
  • Features Period Costumes
  • Additional Features Not Applicable
  • Duration More than 120 minutes (2 hours)
  • Cautions
    • Nudity/Partial Nudity

Media

REVIEWS

"Intriguing....What Hare has done here is not to write a narrative but to offer a portrait of Oscar at the end of his once glittering tether.... The dialogue is urbane, stylish and frequently imbued with Oscar like flashes of humor and purplish poetic resonance. But the main thrust is for character and situation: a mood portrait of a fall from grace." - New York Post

"A moving evocation of the human spirit." - New York Daily News

"Shifts the heroic focus, emphasizing Wilde less as a martyr of sexual persuasion than as a martyr of love.... That the object of Wilde's love...is so clearly unworthy of it only makes the sacrifice more noble." - The New York Times


Videos

  • BBC News with Rupert Everett on The Judas Kiss youtube thumbnail

    BBC News with Rupert Everett on The Judas Kiss

Licensing & Materials

  • Minimum Fee: $120 per performance

Scripts

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Authors

David Hare

David Hare
David Hare has been called "one of the great post-war British playwrights." Along with co-founding Portable Theatre Company and Joint Stock Theatre Group, he served as Resident Dramatist at the Royal Court Theatre in London and Resident Dramatist at the Nottingham Playhouse. ...
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