This is a new one-man show based on the last days of Oscar Wilde in Paris. Seated at a small table outside a French café he explains to the audience what it was that led to his downfall. Very much alone he still clings to his great sense of humour and brilliant wit, telling his story without self-pity.
Yet there is no hate in his heart and he shows a deep compassion and concern for those who still suffer from the moral hypocrisy of Victorian society of which he himself was a victim.
Quoting at times from his own work, he gives a profoundly human insight into some of his best known writings. The result is a highly dramatic and captivating en counter with one of life’s great tragic heroes, that is both touching and entertaining.
WHAT THE CRITICS SAY:
Denis Rafter gives us a combination of charm, dignity, professionalism and compressed compassion that carries conviction to an incredible rendering of “The Ballad of Reading Gaol”.
R.T.E.
We all know the quotable Wilde but we tend to forget the compassionate one. Both Wilde’s life and his work were elegant, witty and paradoxical but Rafter looks deeper to find a touching humanity that is as unexpected as it is pleasing.
Time Out
Denis Rafter, Actor and Director
Denis Rafter is a highly acclaimed actor and director. Originally from Ireland, Rafter has spent most of his professional theatre career working in Spain.
He first studied acting at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin and later at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. In Spain he has directed over fifty shows including plays by Sophocles, Shakespeare, Calderon, Valle Inclan, Beckett, Pinter and many contemporary writers such as Martin McDonagh, Mike Bartlett as well as many of Spain’s current playwrights.
His work has been presented with great success throughout Spain including all the major theatres and festivals such as, the Roman theatre in Merida, the Corral de Comedia in Almagro, and the leatro Español in Madrid.
