THE grandson of esteemed writer Oscar Wilde is to deliver a talk on the acclaimed writer’s infamous trial at an event in London next week.
Merlin Holland will give an informal talk entitled, Oscar Wilde: the Downfall of a Decadent, ahead of two performances of a new play he co-wrote with John O'Connor of the European Arts Company, The Trials of Oscar Wilde, at London’s St James Theatre on July 11 and 12.
The event will see Holland – Wilde’s only grandson - tackle the motives which lead to the Irish writer’s imprisonment just 100 days after The Importance of Being Earnest first opened in the same theatre in 1895.
Thought to be punishment for his homosexuality, Wilde was jailed for two years due to libel and gross indecency.
Holland claims that the talk will “offer a real sense of Oscar’s intellect at full stretch and his complexity wit and deep humanity”.
Tickets for the talk are on sale now from the venue priced £5.
