Buy cheap tickets for Boozr
Wilde Without the Boy

It’s indefatigably Wilde. You don’t even need the show’s title to know it’s Wilde. Gerard Logan simply is Wilde, from the non-stop quips and allusions to the tender look at his own condemned urges.

Gerard Logan’s suave, furious and stimulating presence lifts the words to a lofty place and gives them the well-enunciated love they need

Wilde Without the Boy is a monologue, dramatised from the author’s own De Profundis, a 50,000-word letter composed to his former lover, Posie - that is, Lord Alfred Douglas; an awful man by all accounts, but it’s clear Wilde loved him. The true extent to their relationship is unclear. But that’s the difficulty inherent to “The Love That Dare Not Speak Its Name”. It’s not an easy thing to grasp, for Wilde and for us, and that’s why Wilde Without the Boy is so strong. It’s not simply restating that reason is the slave of our passions. It’s an analysis of why love often needs both competing halves, and what happens when one’s intellectual notion of a relationship clashes with reality.

Wilde’s in Reading Gaol. He’s serving a sentence for acts of homosexuality. There’s bits of his trial in the monologue, and we learn it wasn’t the plain case of getting caught in the act. There’s history behind his arrest, and it’s all weaved in the fabric of the relations with Alfred Douglas. There’s also inserts of The Ballad of Reading Gaol, done more in the righteously mad manner of Spoken Word than delivered verse. These can get gooey, but at least provide contrast to the urbane bulk of the the show.

Fortunately, Wilde’s inimitable manner is kept in the text. Gareth Armstrong, the piece’s director and dramaturg, made a neat choice in appropriating De Profundis, and Gerard Logan’s suave, furious and stimulating presence lifts the words to a lofty place and gives them the well-enunciated love they need. But there’s also hate. The letter toes the line between affection and disgust, and Logan communicates this well. Sometimes, though, even he is unable to carry the more monotonous passages that fail to add new thoughts to the plight, but he’s as professional a performer as you could want at the Fringe.

It’ll envelope you, titillate you and more than once you’ll have to check you understand the mile-a-minute witticisms. It’s elevated, and it truly is Wilde.

Reviews by Oliver Simmonds

Quaker Meeting House

One for the Road

★★
Assembly George Square Studios

Taiwan Season: Solo Date

★★★
Summerhall

All In

★★
Spotlites

Single Varietal

Summerhall

Camille

★★★★
Greenside @ Infirmary Street

Ears on a Beatle

★★

Since you’re here…

… we have a small favour to ask. We don't want your money to support a hack's bar bill at Abattoir, but if you have a pound or two spare, we really encourage you to support a good cause. If this review has either helped you discover a gem or avoid a turkey, consider doing some good that will really make a difference.

You can donate to the charity of your choice, but if you're looking for inspiration, there are three charities we really like.

Mama Biashara
Kate Copstick’s charity, Mama Biashara, works with the poorest and most marginalised people in Kenya. They give grants to set up small, sustainable businesses that bring financial independence and security. That five quid you spend on a large glass of House White? They can save someone’s life with that. And the money for a pair of Air Jordans? Will take four women and their fifteen children away from a man who is raping them and into a new life with a moneymaking business for Mum and happiness for the kids.
Donate to Mama Biashara now

Theatre MAD
The Make A Difference Trust fights HIV & AIDS one stage at a time. Their UK and International grant-making strategy is based on five criteria that raise awareness, educate, and provide care and support for the most vulnerable in society. A host of fundraising events, including Bucket Collections, Late Night Cabarets, West End Eurovision, West End Bares and A West End Christmas continue to raise funds for projects both in the UK and Sub-Saharan Africa.
Donate to Theatre MAD now

Acting For Others
Acting for Others provides financial and emotional support to all theatre workers in times of need through the 14 member charities. During the COVID-19 crisis Acting for Others have raised over £1.7m to support theatre workers affected by the pandemic.
Donate to Acting For Others now

Performances

Location

The Blurb

Wilde Without the Boy is a dramatisation of De Profundis by Oscar Wilde. Directed and dramatised by Gareth Armstrong. Performed by Gerard Logan (Olivier Nominee, Stage's Best Solo Performer of the 2011 Edinburgh Festival). De Profundis is the searing letter Oscar Wilde wrote to his gay lover, Lord Alfred Douglas, from prison. Two years previously, Wilde had been imprisoned for gross indecency. 'The gods had given me almost everything... Whatever I touched I made beautiful... I summed up all systems in a phrase, and all existence in an epigram.' (Oscar Wilde, De Profundis).
Buy cheap tickets for Back To The Future
Buy cheap tickets for Boozr

Most Popular See More

Buy cheap tickets for TINA: The Tina Turner Musical
TINA: The Tina Turner Musical

From £13.00

More Info

Find Tickets

Buy cheap tickets for Starlight Express
Starlight Express

From £29.50

More Info

Find Tickets

Buy cheap tickets for The Devil Wears Prada
The Devil Wears Prada

From £31.00

More Info

Find Tickets

Buy cheap tickets for The Play That Goes Wrong
The Play That Goes Wrong

From £31.00

More Info

Find Tickets

Buy cheap tickets for Abba Voyage
Abba Voyage

From £67.00

More Info

Find Tickets

Buy cheap tickets for Matilda
Matilda

From £25.00

More Info

Find Tickets

Buy cheap tickets for The Buddha of Suburbia
Buy cheap tickets for Anne Frank
Buy cheap tickets for The Elixir of Love
Buy cheap tickets for Les Miserables
Buy cheap tickets for Jack and the Beanstalk Adult Panto
Buy cheap tickets for Waiting for Godot
Buy cheap tickets for The Cabinet Minister
Buy cheap tickets for The Dazzling Diamonds
Buy cheap tickets for Giant
Buy cheap tickets for Benjamin Button