In 1895, in cell 3, floor 3, in Reading Gaol, we find Prisoner C33. Starved, thin, and with his hair crudely hacked short, he is confined alone in this dark cell, denied water to wash himself with and refused access to a toilet.
Prisoner C33 – real name Oscar Wilde – is a dramatist of genius, poet, wit, novelist, husband, father of two children and, until recently, the darling of London society. He has been imprisoned for the crime of having participated in a homosexual relationship. He is struggling to reconcile his identity as a creative genius with the trauma of his treatment as a despised criminal.
In despair, and fearing the onset of insanity, he fantasises about being in conversation with his former self – the elegant, debonair, famous, popular, long-haired, flamboyant Oscar Wilde before this nightmare began. Their talk, Oscar with Oscar, is full of Wildean wit, mischievous humour, nostalgia, philosophical insight, and sardonic wisdom. But as he contemplates his fall from grace, he agonises over the loss of his wife and sons, and over the conflict between love and hate, aroused in him by the memory of his lover, Lord Alfred Douglas.
Prisoner C33 vividly reminds us that only a century ago, a great artist, a genius of the theatre, was imprisoned and then exiled for being gay, in unutterably humiliating national condemnation.
Directed by multi-award winner Trevor Nunn and written by Stuart Paterson.
TV guide: 28 of the best shows to watch this week, beginning tonight
Toby Stephens as Oscar Wilde in Prisoner C33, Sunday on BBC Four
Prisoner C33
Sunday, BBC Four, 9pm
It is the year 1895 and Reading Gaol has a famous inmate, known simply as Prisoner C33. Starved, placed into solitary confinement and denied even basic sanitation, this wretched creature is unrecognisable as his former self: renowned playwright, wit and dandy socialite Oscar Wilde. Jailed for the crime of conducting a homosexual relationship, Wilde is in the depths of despair and, in a bid to stave off insanity, begins to converse with his younger self, in this hard-hitting drama written by Stuart Patterson and directed by Trevor Nunn. Toby Stephens plays both versions of Wilde, one in his flamboyant pomp, the other looking back at his lost life and love.
In 1895, in cell 3, on floor 3, in Reading Gaol, we find Prisoner C33.
Starved, thin and with his hair crudely hacked short, he is confined, alone, in this dark cell, denied water to wash himself with and allowed no access to a toilet.
Prisoner C33 is only ever referred to as Prisoner C33. His real name is Oscar Wilde (played by Toby Stephens: Lost in Space, Summer of Rockets, Jane Eyre), dramatist of genius, poet, wit, novelist, husband, father of two children, and until recently, the darling of London society. He has been imprisoned for the crime of having participated in a homosexual relationship. He is struggling to reconcile his identity as a creative genius with the trauma of his treatment as a despised criminal.
In despair, and fearing the onset of insanity, he fantasises being in conversation with his former self – his elegant, debonair, famous, popular, longhaired, flamboyant self, before this nightmare began. Their talk, Oscar with Oscar, is full of Wildean wit, mischievous humour, nostalgia, philosophical insight, and sardonic wisdom. But as he contemplates his fall from grace, he agonises over the loss of his wife and sons, and over the conflict between love and hate, aroused in him by the memory of his lover, Lord Alfred Douglas.
We live now at a time of ‘cancel culture’. Prisoner C33 vividly reminds us that only a century ago, a great artist, a genius of the theatre was cancelled for being gay, in unutterably humiliating national condemnation.
DURATION
1 x one hour (1 x 68-minute version also available)
“Perhaps most notable [of defenses of Oscar Wilde], simply by reason of the source, was the editorial appearing in the June 18, 1895, edition of the Torch(’A Revolutionary Journal of Anarchist Communism’), a magazine produced by Olivia and Helen Rosetti, the teenage daughters of art critic William Michael Rossetti. (In addition to the girls’ own contributions, the Torch published writing by Malatesta, Zola, Mirbeau, and Michel.) In Wilde’s defense, the journal argued that because the case involved ‘neither violation nor even seduction,’ and since the witnesses had ‘reached the age of discretion’ and ‘prostituted themselves before they made Wilde’s acquaintance,’ there was no ‘harm done to society’ and therefore also no ‘right of society to claim redress, i.e. to punish.’ Indeed, the piece asserted, ‘If there was an indecency at all in this case, then it was displayed by the prosecutors… [and] the repugnant behavior of the Marquess of Queensberry.’“
- Kristian Williams, Resist Everything Except Temptation
“Se la natura fosse stata confortevole, l’umanità non avrebbe mai inventato l’architettura” -Cit. Oscar Wilde
(L’edificio in foto è il One World Trade Center, più noto come Freedom Tower, situato a New York; L'altezza dell'edificio è di 1776 piedi (541m), Il numero 1776 non è casuale: è stato scelto poiché rappresenta l'anno della dichiarazione di indipendenza degli Stati Uniti.)
