The Judas Kiss

Past productions

Hampstead Theatre, Hampstead Theatre, London, Duke of York’s Theatre, London, and other locations 6^th September 2012 – 6^th April 2013.
Playhouse Theatre, London 19^th March – 18^th April 1998.

The Judas Kiss is a 1998 British play by David Hare, about Oscar Wilde’s scandal and disgrace at the hands of his young lover Bosie (Lord Alfred Douglas).

Act 1: London, 1895
Oscar Wilde’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.

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