What I liked
Deft handling of recognizable Wilde-isms woven neatly into the dialogue. Superb performances by all four actors. Nice touches with the period costuming. My hat is off to the writer, and her team that brought it to the stage.
What I didn't like
My only complaint, and it is a small one, is that the last sequence could use a better transition. We find ourselves with Wilde as he faces death’s door, (or wallpaper, as the joke goes) which explains the hallucinatory appearance Dorian Gray, but it took me awhile to get oriented in this scene. The wallpaper joke is famously his last words, but here it is used to start the scene, and if someone does not get that reference, they may be even more lost than I was about what is going on.
My overall impression
Very well written and performed. A top-notch hour at the Fringe. The central character portrayed by Richard Abraham had a delightfully droll delivery that fit perfectly with the Wilde aphorisms sprinkled throughout his dialogue, which got a lot of much-deserved laughs. He also communicated the sense of defeat and despair that was hovering over these last few years of Wilde’s life. His co-performers were equally strong, especially the fantasized, come-to-life character of Dorian Gray in the last sequence.
