''The Judas Kiss'' is a 1998 play by

David Hare David Hare may refer to: *David Hare (philanthropist) (1775–1842), Scottish philanthropist *David Hare (artist) (1917–1992), American sculptor and photographer *David Hare (playwright) (born 1947), English playwright and theatre and film direc ...

about

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is ...

's scandal and disgrace at the hands of his young lover Bosie (

Lord Alfred Douglas Lord Alfred Bruce Douglas (22 October 1870 – 20 March 1945), also known as Bosie Douglas, was an English poet and journalist, and a lover of Oscar Wilde. At Oxford he edited an undergraduate journal, ''The Spirit Lamp'', that carried a homoer ...

Plot

''Act 1: London, 1895''

's spoiled and impetuous young lover Bosie has succeeded in instigating Wilde to sue Bosie's father in court for insulting him as a "sodomite". The loss of the suit opens the way for Wilde being criminally indicted for gross indecency. Wilde has tacit government permission to flee the country to avoid arrest, trial, and imprisonment, but the childish Bosie insists that he stay and defend their honour. ''Act 2: Italy, 1897'' Wilde is doing the one thing his friends wanted him to avoid, namely reuniting with the unbelievably selfish Bosie after his difficult two-year incarceration. Wilde, a broken man, is holed up in exile from the UK in a rat-infested hotel in Naples.

Characters

Historical figures

* Lord Alfred "Bosie" Douglas * Robert "Robbie" Ross

Fictitious characters

*Sandy Moffatt, a hotel manager who is implied to be a homosexual *Arthur Wellesley, a member of the hotel staff *Phoebe Cane, a recently hired maid and love interest of Arthur Wellesley *Galileo Masconi, an Italian fisherman with whom Bosie has an affair

Cast

Original 1998 cast

* Oscar Wilde –

Liam Neeson William John Neeson (born 7 June 1952) is an actor from Northern Ireland. He has received several accolades, including nominations for an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and two Tony Awards. In 2020, he was placed 7th on ''The I ...

* Bosie Douglas –

Tom Hollander Thomas Anthony Hollander (; born 25 August 1967) is an English actor. As a child Hollander trained with the National Youth Theatre and was later involved in stage productions as a member of the Footlights and was president of the Marlowe Soci ...

* Robbie Ross –

Peter Capaldi Peter Dougan Capaldi (; born 14 April 1958) is a Scottish actor, director, writer and musician. He portrayed the Twelfth Doctor, twelfth incarnation of The Doctor (Doctor Who), the Doctor in ''Doctor Who'' (2013–2017) and Malcolm Tucker in ' ...

* Sandy Moffatt – Richard Clarke * Arthur Wellesley –

Alex Walkinshaw Alex Newcombe Walkinshaw (born 5 October 1974) is a British actor. He has played the long-running roles of Dale "Smithy" Smith in the ITV police procedural series ''The Bill'' and Adrian "Fletch" Fletcher in BBC medical dramas ''Casualty'' a ...

* Phoebe Cane – Stina Nielsen * Galileo Masconi – Daniel Serafini-SauliBrantley, Ben
"''The Judas Kiss'': Oscar Wilde, Out and Down in London and Naples"
''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

''. 30 April 1998.

2012 revival cast

* Oscar Wilde –

Rupert Everett Rupert James Hector Everett (; born 29 May 1959) is an English actor, director and producer. Everett first came to public attention in 1981 when he was cast in Julian Mitchell's play and subsequent film '' Another Country'' (1984) as a gay pupil ...

* Bosie Douglas – Freddie Fox * Robbie Ross – Cal MacAninch * Sandy Moffatt – Alister Cameron * Arthur Wellesley – Ben Hardy * Phoebe Cane – Kirsty Oswald * Galileo Masconi – Tom ColleyCorcoran, Kieran
"Full cast for ''The Judas Kiss'' with Rupert Everett announced"
''

WhatsOnStage.com WhatsOnStage.com is a London-based website that provides information about, and offers tickets for, theatrical performances in the United Kingdom. It also organises the annual WhatsOnStage Awards. Founded in 1996, it has been owned by the Americ ...

''. 4 July 2012.

London and Broadway productions

Original 1998 production

The play was originally produced by the Almeida Theatre Company and premiered in London's

Playhouse Theatre The Playhouse Theatre is a West End theatre in the City of Westminster, located in Northumberland Avenue, near Trafalgar Square, central London. The Theatre was built by F. H. Fowler and Hill with a seating capacity of 1,200. It was rebuilt i ...

in the West End, where it ran from 12 March to 18 April 1998. It then transferred to Broadway in New York at the

Broadhurst Theatre The Broadhurst Theatre is a Broadway theatre, Broadway theater at 235 West 44th Street (Manhattan), 44th Street in the Theater District, Manhattan, Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1917, the theater was designed ...

, where it ran from 23 April through 1 August 1998. The play was rushed into production in London in order to open on Broadway in time for the

Tonys The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual c ...

. The run starred

as Wilde and

as Bosie, and was directed by

Richard Eyre Sir Richard Charles Hastings Eyre (born 28 March 1943) is an English film, theatre, television and opera director. Biography Eyre was born in Barnstaple, Devon, England, the son of Richard Galfridus Hastings Giles Eyre and his wife, Minna Ma ...

.Paller, Rebecca and David Lefkowitz
"Liam Neeson ''Judas Kiss'' Opens on B'way Apr. 29"
''

Playbill ''Playbill'' is an American monthly magazine for theatergoers. Although there is a subscription issue available for home delivery, most copies of ''Playbill'' are printed for particular productions and distributed at the door as the show's pr ...

''. 29 April 1998.

2012 revival

''The Judas Kiss'' was revived at London's

Hampstead Theatre Hampstead Theatre is a theatre in South Hampstead in the London Borough of Camden. It specialises in commissioning and producing new writing, supporting and developing the work of new writers. Roxana Silbert has been the artistic director since ...

beginning 6 September 2012, starring

as Wilde and Freddie Fox as Bosie, and directed by

Neil Armfield Neil Geoffrey Armfield (born 22 April 1955) is an Australian director of theatre, film and opera. Biography Born in Sydney, Armfield is the third and youngest son of Len, a factory worker at the nearby Arnott's Biscuits factory and Nita Armf ...

. The play ran at the Hampstead through 13 October 2012, toured the UK and Dublin, and then transferred to the West End at the

Duke of York's Theatre The Duke of York's Theatre is a West End theatre in St Martin's Lane, in the City of Westminster, London. It was built for Frank Wyatt and his wife, Violet Melnotte, who retained ownership of the theatre until her death in 1935. Designed by th ...

on 9 January 2013 in a limited run through 6 April 2013. Everett won the

WhatsOnStage Award for Best Actor in a Play The WhatsOnStage Award for Best Performer in a Male Identifying Role in a Play is an annual award presented by WhatsOnStage.com as part of the annual WhatsOnStage Awards. Founded in 2001 as the Theatregoers' Choice Awards, the WhatsOnStage Awards ...

, and was nominated for the

Olivier Award for Best Actor The Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Play is an annual award presented by the Society of London Theatre in recognition of achievements in commercial London theatre. The awards were established as the Society of West End Theatre Awards i ...

. In 2016 the production, still starring Everett and with

Charlie Rowe Charlie John Rowe (born 23 April 1996)CBS: Evening Standard: is an English film and television actor. His film roles include Young Tommy in '' Never Let Me Go'', James in ''The Boat That Rocked'', Billy Costa in ''The Golden Compass'', Peter ...

as Bosie, ran in North America for seven weeks in Toronto and five weeks at BAM in New York City.

Australian productions

The play had its Australian premiere in 1999 at Sydney's

Belvoir St Theatre Belvoir is an Australian theatre company based at the Belvoir St Theatre in Sydney, Australia, originally known as Company B. Since 2016 and its artistic director is Eamon Flack. The theatre contains a 330-seat Upstairs Theatre and a 80-seat D ...

. It was directed by Neil Armfield, who later directed the 2012 London revival, and featured

Bille Brown William Gerald Brown AM (11 January 195213 January 2013) professionally known as Billie Brown was an Australian stage, film and television actor and acclaimed playwright. Early life Brown was born in Biloela, Queensland and studied drama at t ...

in the role of Oscar Wilde.Peard, Anne-Marie
"Mockingbird: ''The Judas Kiss''"
''Aussie Theatre''. 18 March 2014. In 2014, a new production directed by Jason Cavanagh and produced by the Mockingbird Theatre Company was staged at Theatreworks in the Melbourne suburb of St Kilda, featuring Chris Baldock as Wilde and Nigel Langley as Bosie.

Reception

The initial 1998 run of ''The Judas Kiss'' proved popular with audiences but less so with critics. The 2012 London revival however was both critically and popularly acclaimed. Michael Billington in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' observed of the revival: Other critics concurred with Billington's sentiment; Fiona Mountford in the ''

Evening Standard The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format. In October 2009, after be ...

'' echoed that "Time has been kinder to ''The Judas Kiss'' (1998) than some initial judgments: on second viewing it's revealed as a rich, resonant piece of writing, which at last boasts the ideal cast.""''The Judas Kiss'', Hampstead – review"
''

''. 13 September 2012.

Notes

References

External links

''The Judas Kiss''
at the

Internet Broadway Database The Internet Broadway Database (IBDB) is an online database of Broadway theatre productions and their personnel. It was conceived and created by Karen Hauser in 1996 and is operated by the Research Department of The Broadway League, a trade assoc ...

''The Judas Kiss''
on GoogleBooks {{DEFAULTSORT:Judas Kiss 1998 plays Cultural depictions of Oscar Wilde Plays by David Hare Plays based on actual events LGBT-related plays