Bringing Oscar Wilde's tragic demise to the stage in Worthing

John wrote the book and is producing; the music and lyrics are by John and Danielle for a show which came together remarkably quickly last year, as John explains: “Last year we had five performances in front of a live audience and whatever was happening around us, it was getting better and better as the show progressed and as the cast really got into the characters. And the audience reaction was fantastic. We had decent houses across all the theatres that we did and the universal reaction was that it was a great story, a very relevant story and lots of people saying things like ‘I never knew that!’

“What that told us was to be brave again and get it out there. We have made some important changes in terms of the show and the production. We have done some recasting and that’s brought in some wonderful new talent. We’ve got people from the East 15 Acting School and they are wonderful additions. We have kept the principal characters the same, but we have also brought in a new director Tracy Collier. She is hugely experienced in the West End as an actor and on TV. She is a drama and performing arts teaching professional and she has made a massive difference in terms of bringing on the presentation of the show. And now there are fewer restrictions in place. It means that we can concentrate on how to bring out the movement on the stage. That has made a huge difference and the cast are loving it. They’re getting more intimate with their own characters and also with their opposites on stage.

“We’ve also added three new musical numbers and we have added some new scenes. We’ve added some really significant extra drama to the show and that has all had a really big impact on what people are going to see. We’re seeing this show now as phase two and that will help us get to our final version where we will have a full live orchestra and full-on production. The whole show is a joy to do and it is just getting better and better all the time. We can’t wait to bring it to people on tour.”

Dates are: February 22-23 – Northbrook Theatre, Worthing; February 25 – Epsom Playhouse, Epsom, Surrey; February 28 – Elgiva Theatre, Chesham, Bucks; and March 2-3 – Irish Cultural Centre, Hammersmith. The Worthing performance will be live-streamed with the show accessible through the show website www.vengeancemusical.com.

As for the show, as John explains: “For a long time, ever since I was growing up, I have always had a fascination with Oscar Wilde, and my mother gave me an insight into literature that I have carried with me ever since. She said ‘If you want to get to know the work, get to know the author.’ And that applies to Oscar. The thing about Oscar Wilde is that his story has been told in so many different ways. I have been trying for some time to find a new way of approaching it, and this just came together. I only started writing it at the end of January (last) year. It just came really fast, but it is the culmination of sporadic research and inspiration from my youth. The story just poured out. It was like a cake that was being baked over the years and then it was just ready to take out of the oven. And then when you have got the basic cake, you look to start to embellish it. I ran it past other people, and what was really interesting was that they were all really positive.

“The format of the shows is that we combine acting and narrative and music, an unusual format for telling Oscar’s story. We have put in his great friend Robbie Ross, who was a constant companion.”

throughout his life, and we have used him as the narrator, telling the story. It is Robbie who connects with the audience and drives the narrative.

“The starting point for the show is 1895, the year Oscar went from being a hero to being a zero. In February he had two shows on in the West End including The Importance of Being Earnest, but three months later, after his trials, he was nothing. He ended up in jail, and that is the starting point. He went from being top of the pops to being an outcast in society in just a matter of months.”

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