SEST is proud to present the second run of Wilde Times!

Blog

/ 13th September 2021

A monologue about the women around Oscar Wilde. Performing on the 11, 12, 13, and 14 of October at Ö2 Scenkonst.

SEST, The Stockholm English Speaking Theatre, presents Wilde Times! A newly written monologue written and performed by and the actress Ingela Lundh. The story revolves around three women, all belonging to the close-nit circle around the Irish author Oscar Wilde: His mother; the revolutionary, the feminist and the author Lady Jane Wilde. His first semi-platonic love and the ‘professional beauty’: Lily Langtry. His wife and co-parent of his two sons: Constance Holland.

Wilde Times! is a monologue about three vibrant women and their maze-like struggle to understand themselves, their surroundings and the taboos that stand in their way. The story mixes newly written text with real excerpts from letters, autobiographies and Oscar Wilde’s witty truths and affirmations.

In Wilde Times!, we first meet Oscar Wilde’s mother, Lady Jane, in the final stages of her life. Sick and destitute, she sits in her draughty living room in Chelsea, London, trying to sell off books to be able to afford firewood for the fireplace. The housemaid has left a long time ago and Jane is left alone with her library as her only companion. She has invited her guests to one last salon. She needs witnesses.

Jane salon is soon transformed into a dressing room where Lily Langtry makes her entrance to tell us of her escapades as a mistress, professional beauty and business owner. Finally we meet Constance Wilde at the train station in Dover, where is waiting for the train to take her out of the country, away from the scandals surrounding her husband.
Wilde Times! is a co-production between SEST and Ö2 Scenkonst with support from Stockholms Stad.