Performed at the vaudeville Theatre between 03 Jan, 2018 and 06 Jan, 2018

H.M. Prison, Reading

Dear Bosie, After long and fruitless waiting I have determined to write to you myself, as much for your sake as for mine, as I would not like to think that I had passed through two long years of imprisonment without ever having received a single line from you, or any news or message even, except such as gave me pain.

Wilde’s letter to Lord Alfred Douglas relates Wilde and Bosie’s relationship and extravagant lifestyle which eventually led to Wilde’s conviction and imprisonment for gross indecency, his words and wisdom sing from the page of this letter written from his prison cell.

De Profundis will be performed on stage by Simon Callow. Simon is an actor, author and director. He studied at Queen’s University, Belfast, then trained as an actor at the Drama Centre in London. His many one-man shows include The Mystery of Charles Dickens, Being Shakespeare, Tuesday at Tesco’s and, most recently, The Man Jesus. He has written biographies of Oscar Wilde, Charles Laughton, Charles Dickens and  Richard Wagner; One Man Band, the third volume of his massive Orson Welles biography,  was published in 2015.

De Profundis is adapted for the stage by Frank McGuinness (The Factory Girls, Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me), acclaimed Irish playwright, poet and translator. McGuinness has won numerous awards and prizes throughout his distinguished career, including a Tony Award, an Irish PEN Award and the French Order of Arts and Letters.

The production is directed by Mark Rosenblatt, Stuart: A Life Backwards, Henry VIII, Animal Wisdom and is Associate Artist at West Yorkshire Playhouse (Uncle Vanya, Eve Ensler’s Avocado).