Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde

by Moisés Kaufman, Stephen Wangh

In three short months, Oscar Wilde, the most celebrated playwright and wit of Victorian England, was toppled from the apex of British society into humiliation and ruin. Drawing from trial documents, newspaper accounts, and writings of the key players, Moises Kaufman ignites an incendiary mix of sex and censorship, with a cast of characters ranging from George Bernard Shaw to Queen Victoria herself. A L.A. Theatre Works full-cast performance JB Blanc, Dakin Matthews, Ian Ogilvy, Peter Paige, Julian Sands, Simon Templeman, John Vickery, Douglas Weston, Matthew Wolf

Genres: Plays, Drama, Theatre, LGBT, Nonfiction, Historical, Queer

72 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Moisés Kaufman (born November 21, 1963) is a playwright, director and founder of Tectonic Theater Project. He is best known for writing The Laramie Project with other members of Tectonic Theater Project. He is also the author of Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde and 33 Variations. He was born and raised in Caracas, Venezuela and moved to New York City in 1987.

Kaufman is of Romanian and Ukrainian Jewish descent. He described himself in an interview by saying "I am Venezuelan, I am Jewish, I am gay, I live in New York. I am the sum of all my cultures. I couldn’t write anything that didn’t incorporate all that I am."

Kaufman was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2002. He made his Broadway directing debut in the 2004 production of I Am My Own Wife by Doug Wright, for which he received a Tony Award nomination for Best Direction of a Play.

(from Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Theo Logos · Rating 4 out of 5]

The trials and conviction of Oscar Wilde for “gross indecency” destroyed and hounded to death a great artist, cast a pale of fear over British homosexuals for 75 years, and in an odd way, actually invented the idea of identifying one’s self by sexual preference.

Moises Kaufman’s brilliant play uses the trial transcripts themselves, along with Wilde’s own writings, the memoirs of Lord Alfred Douglas, and several others connected to these events. These are cleverly integrated together to form a fascinating document of this gross miscarriage of justice that works surprisingly well.

I’ve seen this play performed at City Theater in Pittsburgh (25 years ago?) and have now listened to LA Theater Works production of it twice. Anyone with an interest in Wilde, his work, or this unfortunate history should check it out.

[nadia | notabookshelf · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reason does not help me. It tells me that the law under which I'm being judged is a wrong and unfair law, and the system under which I'm suffering, a wrong and unjust system.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very well done audiobook capture of the play, which contains all three trials that led to the imprisonment of Wilde, which led to an injury while incarcerated two years, which led to his death three years later.

All the key evidence is presented at the trials:
1. Wilde first brings a libel suit against the father of a young friend (Wilde's complacent lover), as this father's statements were damaging to Oscar. The depth of witness statements led Oscar to drop his charges, but it emboldened the defense to now go on the offense.

Lord Alfred Douglas was the 20 year old whose father was the defendant in trial 1. This young man was infatuated with Oscar.
After I had known Oscar for about nine months, I did with him, and allowed him to do with me, just what was done among boys at Winchester and Oxford. He treated me as an older boy treats a younger one at school. What England really feels about homosexuality is summed up in one word: Hypocrisy. "Do what you like. It really doesn't matter in the least. We all do it one time or another. But at all costs, we must keep up the attitude of amazed horror at any open manifestation of it, in others.

2. The first trial against Gross Indecency against Wilde ended in a hung-jury that could not decide. No bail was allowed per the seriousness of the crime of sodomy.

There is no worse crime than that for which the prisoner has been charged (sodomy/gross indecency). I therefore refuse bail.

3. The jury now was in full agreement, sending Wilde to prison for 2 years, hard labor.
George Bernard Shaw, on Wilde's plea of 'not guilty':
Wilde could plead not guilty with perfect sincerity. And indeed he could not honestly put in any other plea. Guilty or Not Guilty is a question not of fact but of morals. The prisoner who pleads not guilty is not alleging that he did this or did not do that, he is affirming that what he did does not involve any guilt on his part. A man rightly accused of homosexuality is perfectly entitled to plead 'not guilty' in the legal sense. He might admit that he was technically guilty of a breach of local law, and his own conscious might tell him he was guilty of a sin against a moral law. But if he believes, as Wilde personally did, that homosexuality is not a crime, he is perfectly entitled to say he is not guilty of it.

The epilogue act of the play reminds us:
After his release from prison, Wilde left for France where he lived under an assumed name as an exile in poverty for the rest of his life. He never saw his wife or children again. He never wrote another play. Oscar Wilde died on the 30th of November, 1900. He was buried at Bagneux cemetery, four days later. Lord Alfred Douglas was one of the 12 people that attended the burial. After that, Lord Alfred Douglas married and had two children. He grew to repudiate his relationship with Oscar Wilde. The Marquess of Queensberry died in 1899 a pathetic victim of persecution-mania, convinced that to the last, he was being harried to the tune by 'Oscar Wilders' as he used to describe his imaginary tormentors. By 1908, Oscar Wilde's plays were being performed in every European language. By 1920 Oscar Wilde was, after Shakespeare, the most widely read English language author of the in Europe.

I rather like the writings of Oscar Wilde, and I was a bit worried that listening to this nonfiction play would possibly diminish him in my mind. Instead, the play just showed that Oscar Wilde was just so far ahead of his time in his full acceptance of himself, that he did not see how the world had not caught up. This same scenario is (sadly) still happening today!

I think it is time for me read a full biography on Oscar. I'll start with:
Oscar Wilde by Richard Ellmann
I see it won the National (US) Book Critics Circle Award in 1988 and a Pulitzer Prize in 1989.

[Ashley Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic look into the three trials of Oscar Wilde. I'm definitely picking up Wilde's nonfiction writings after this.

Book Jar D20 Challenge: A play
MSBBT 2022: Unloved and unwanted

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

IF you know the history of Oscar Wilde, the question of what was he thinking doesn’t apply to his romantic affairs, but the lawsuit and following trials. Drawn from various sources, including the trial itself, Gross Indecency offers insight into a potential answer to this question. The various sources are weaved into the performance which is done in the tradition of Wilde’s wittiest plays. Well worth listening to.

[Teagan · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75

[Emma Getz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating theatrical examination of the trials of Oscar Wilde but also a beautiful analysis of the way we analyze and moralize art. It really shows how much Wilde changed the way we think, the way we read, and the way we identify. The documentary element is fascinating and I hope this trend in theatre continues.

[Maddie Parker · Rating 2 out of 5]

I would like to give rhis 2 1/2 stars. I would say it’s my aversion to plays but there are so many plays I adore so I don’t think it’s that. I just didn’t really enjoy this! Loved learning abt my boy Oscar though Dorian grey slaps

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gross Indecency was a really engaging exploration of the trials that Oscar Wilde went through, leading up to his sentence to hard labour for being gay. The ways it used historical documents, ranging from biographies/autobiographies to letters to court transcripts, to tell the story is very engaging. I feel like it really captured who Wilde was in a lot of ways. I listened to the audio production from LA Theatre Works, which had solid performances all around. There was also an interview with the playwright at the end, which was very interesting. I'm glad I finally got around to reading a play from Moises Kaufman, and I hope to finally get to some of his other works soon too. Recommended!

[Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 ⭐️

I love the Tectonic Theater Project and this play was on my the for a long time. It heartbreakingly tells that story of the three trials of Oscar Wilde and the narrative surrounding him, through excerpts of his works, newspapers columns and trial records. The afterword by Tony Kushner really goes it all together as he discusses the legacy Wilde has left.

[Lily Spar · Rating 3 out of 5]

prob would give this 3.5 stars if possible. an interesting and quick read. i <3 oscar wilde and am very interested in his ideas about art, so I liked that. I wanted more of his interiority throughout, not just at the end of the play. I loved the part with the scholar of Wilde. overall a good read hahahaha

[elle vivian · Rating 4 out of 5]

[4.5] GOD this was so good i love oscar wilde so much

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great thing to read in Ireland, gave a lot of context to the author. Liked the use of sources.

[bella issa · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

given how seemingly complex this subject is, I don’t think this could have been handled better. wilde just comes off as blisteringly human.

[Henry · Rating 5 out of 5]

New goal: star in this play.

[Julia Price · Rating 4 out of 5]

having read his biography i already knew about everything that happened during the trials, but the ending of this play made me so so sad. oscar wilde may have been a pretentious asshole but he was also just a man who struggled his entire life to be understood. good for him for standing by his affection in the face of an england and a world that hated him for it.

[Peter Quesnel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was fortunate enough to have seen a production of Gross Indecency many years ago that was performed in an actual historic courthouse. Reading the play now was rewarding as I now have a better understanding of the trials and the events of Oscar’s Wilde’s life that led to his tragic fall. Victorian society was immensely cruel to Wilde, and it was painful to experiencing it while reading this play. It’s a true masterpiece by Moises Kaufman.

[Rachel C. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This play covers three trials involving Oscar Wilde - the first was a libel suit brought by Wilde against the Marquess of Queensberry (the one who came up with the boxing rules), who was the father of Wilde's lover, Lord Alfred Douglas; the second was brought against Wilde for "gross indecency with male persons" and ended in a mistrial for a hung jury; the third was the retrial and ended with a guilty verdict and a sentence of two years imprisonment for Wilde.

I was a bit distracted by Kaufman's device of having multiple narrators reading out the citations for things being said by the characters, but I ultimately enjoyed this romantic and poetic play. I should like to see it on stage someday.

It's amazing that love can sprout and grow even in the most inhospitable soil: "It is beautiful, it is fine, it is the noblest form of affection. There is nothing unnatural about it. It is intellectual, and it repeatedly exists between an elder and a younger man when the elder man has intellect and the younger man has all the joy, hope, and glamour of life before him. That it should be so the world does not understand."

Thanks to Catherine for the gift.

[Rae · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such a fun read. Harrowing, of course, but to read Wilde's famous wit, his incredible retorts, and his amazing timing was such a pleasure.

The structure of this play hits all of my hallmarks for good theatre. I love minimalist sets, I love actors being used in multiple roles, and I love walking away from a play feeling like I've learned something. This is a play I would direct in a heartbeat - the writing is so strong and the stylistic foundations the playwright has outlined are perfect.

Definitely worth reading and I can only hope to see it performed someday. Fantastic writing, due in no small part to the genius of the subject.

[lol · Rating 4 out of 5]

i’m so bummed

[MJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

4*

In 1895, Lord Queensberry, father of Lord Alfred Douglas who was the lover of the famous writer, Oscar Wilde, leaves a visiting card at a club with the words printed "Oscar Wilde: posing somdomite". Wilde filed a lawsuit against Queensberry for criminal libel. The defense ended up denouncing Wilde's art and literature as immoral and Queensberry was acquitted of the case entirely. This was after Wilde decided to withdraw his case against Queensberry after the first trial. As a result, the Crown under Her Majesty, Queen Victoria, felt compelled to prosecute Wilde based on the evidence gathered against him and these proceedings finally led to Wilde being imprisoned to 2 years with hard labor.

Gross Indecency is a stage play created to depict all 3 of the trials of Oscar Wilde which led to his ultimate sentencing. While reading this, I felt that he inadvertently brought about his own downfall. There was a point in the trial when he could no longer answer the prosecutor on whether or not he had kissed Walter Grainger, aged 16, one of the gentleman he befriended and became close with. A list of other men were then announced by Queensberry's lawyer to testify against Wilde and it seems that they readily provided their testimony, betraying his trust outright. Queensberry had the better lawyer from the start - one who knew right away how to use Wilde's own literature and "friends" against him. The Picture of Dorian Gray was used in the court to portray Wilde's own character as a flawed and immoral man.

He was picked apart so savagely and was left humiliated by the end of it. It was a cruel age where homosexuality was considered a misdemeanor. An interesting point though - I can see why Queensberry's lawyers together with Wilde's lawyers agreed to drop the case. From Queensberry's point of view, he had proven Wilde to be without morals, having what he calls as "disgusting" behavior and thoughts about men. But I think the Crown taking it up against Wilde was entirely on a different plane or thought. England, under Queen Victoria's reign considered the act of one male having committed what she terms as "gross indencency" with another male a crime. I picked up on the fact that the Crown launching an attack against Wilde and finally sentencing him was something of an example being taught to the public. In modern times, if Wilde was alive today, he would be called gay, a member of the LGBTQ. However, there was no such construct in 1895 and hence, the Crown wanted to drive its point that his behavior was unnatural. Above everything, they went after his art - his literature was picked apart to prove his crime all in the aim of preserving and upholding the Victorian virtues of the time. Wilde's work was everything that was contrary to what the Crown deemed as acceptable to the Victorian class and conduct.

Would he have been in better circumstances if he had fled to France as advised by his ex-wife and friends? I guess we would never know. He died a lonely and poor man and hardly wrote anything after his imprisonment. His imprisonment also marked the last time he ever saw his family again.

[Kyra Boisseree · Rating 5 out of 5]

*laughs nervously* Hamlet has been my favorite play for so long that reading this has honestly given me an existential crisis about whether, when considering my favorite plays, I should put Shakespeare in his own category or not. You know. So Hamlet doesn't suddenly become #2 because HOLY SHIT THIS PLAY. I usually have trouble reading plays (I so much prefer to see them performed) but that was not a problem at all with this one. I would still love to see it performed. It has exactly the kind of staging I adore. I just. I adore everything about this.

(Also got the strange impression that I'd read this before, or at least parts of it, while I was reading. I don't mean the quotations from things I've obviously already read, but the parts taken directly from the trials and sometimes personal accounts. I do have the full transcripts of the trials, but I haven't read them yet. It was just a strange feeling, I guess.)

[John Medlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Gross Indecency" is a brilliantly executed piece of historical playwrighting. That play seems to be made up of text snippets centering on Oscar Wilde's trials for his homosexual activity and queer-centric writing. Kaufman backs up this story with a wealth of research. With so much information being packed into this play, its a wonder the piece is still thrilling to read. The play is carefully paced. Their signature style of breaking the dramatic action down to "moments" rather than scenes aids with keeping that steady momentum. The piece also sheds a light on the anti-queer policies pushed today. It asks for politicians and those clinging to Puritanical thinking to be held accountable for the hate they spew. While that has yet to happen, it's nice to think of that moment when the most anti-queer voices realize the irrevocable harm they have inflicted on others. Whether that be on judgment day, or here on earth.

[Ind24 · Rating 5 out of 5]

An astoundingly brilliant piece of writing. The way each scene plays out on the page, you cannot help but visualize the whole thing. What was most intriguing to me is the fact that the Oscar Wilde I knew until I read this book was Oscar Wilde: the court jester, the wordsmith, the magician, but the Oscar Wilde on these pages is a very serious, almost broken artist, practically a worshipper of aesthetics and beauty. The Oscar Wilde in the courtroom, it seems to me, was definitely not lacking hubris but was also imbued with an idea to have the souls of all of the humankind sing with stunning beauty of art. He seems to be pushing this idea that people need to question the purpose of art and artists, in general, and that was truly fascinating to me! Can you separate the art from the artist? And how far are you willing to go to define this separation? What is “morality” in the space of art? Those are the questions.

[Zoe S · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gross Indecency is a terrific account of the events leading to the imprisonment of Oscar Wilde, but more than that, it’s a work that asks us to examine the way we interpret stories and people. Kaufman posits that, while we may label Wilde as a gay man by today’s standards, he wouldn’t have labeled himself that way, and that it may well have been these trials that created the modern idea of the homosexual man in the common understanding. Furthermore, his work is in itself in opposition to the entire notion that art can be held down by the ideas and labels created by society (specifically morality, although he has a weird thing about beauty that the afterword critiques). My only regret is that not all of these ideas can come through wholly in the script, relying largely on the staging of the play. Then again, that’s an issue reading most plays (with a few wonderful exceptions).

[Terri London Mabel · Rating 5 out of 5]

52 Books, 2023 Edition: Subtitle

Lovely play, I would love to see it on stage one day. A mixture of passages from his trials, his works, his letters, other people's statements and letters, and even literary commentary. Kaufman also inserts Wilde's writing into the trials to imagine what he was thinking, or would have said.

There are a lot of angles that complicate the story of Wilde's downfall. Given the illegality of homosexual sex, it's hard to say if he would still have had sex with teenagers, and whether there was a power dynamic in play that would cause as great a scandal nowadays as it did then.

But this play focuses more on the way his art was put on trial and used to convict him, and his defence of art for art's sake--which is also still pertinent today.

All in all a really interesting and touching work.

[Joey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I hate when people lament of "it's just a play about people standing around talking"... like, I'm sorry, not enough pyrotechnics in that family drama? I think Oscar Wilde wrote the best family dramas around. As for this, I really kinda longed to know more and wished Kaufman had written a biographical companion to it, to be honest. But, for a play with a set runtime, I think it did a great job of conveying the stress of the situation for Wilde at the time

[Marta Kazic · Rating 5 out of 5]

I guess it's difficult to step buck and judge a book's quality if the subject matter is so damn engaging. Without reading it again I couldn't tell you for the life of me what I thought of the writing style or if the turn of phrase was intelligent and witty. But maybe that's what's makes it brilliant?

[Daze · Rating 4 out of 5]

The style of the play was unconventional but the author makes note of this as the play is meant to break the fourth wall every now and then. I appreciated it, as it felt like a documentary while written in a dramatic and credible tone. I learned a lot about the personal life of Wilde, and am saddened by learning about the aftermath of the trials.

[Hannah T · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really cool insight into Oscar Wilde as a person outside of just his literature, and how he was ultimately on trial for his fruity vibes in his art as opposed to actual sodomy. That man’s ego was definitely a large part of his downfall, but it was incredibly entertaining watching him fuck around in the court room. What a guy.