A new touring musical based on the Marquess of Queensberry’s relentless, vindictive pursuit of Oscar Wilde which eventually destroyed both men is a real family affair with JOHN MERRIGAN writing the book and producing the show and wife Danielle Morgan composing songs and music.
Vengeance: The Demise of Oscar Wilde, the result of this collaboration, plays at the new Esher Theatre in Surrey from 11-12 February 2022 before further dates at Worthing (22-23 February), Epsom (25 February), Chesham (28 February) and Hammersmith (2-3 March).
The show, with a cast of eight headed by Riley Clark as Oscar, Will Burren as Lord Alfred Douglas, the handsome young lover he has seduced, and John Newcombe as Alfie’s outraged, vengeful Marquess father, was road-tested in Bognor Regis last July and again at Epsom Playhouse in September.
The story, which begins with Wilde at the height of his fame and ends with him exposed and ruined, is told through the eyes of Oscar’s lifelong friend Robbie Ross, played by David Keogh, both as narrator and participant.
Merrigan says the inspiration for the show came from a life-time exposure to Wilde and an early fascination with his story. “Together, Danielle and I wanted to tell the story of Oscar from a new perspective, especially bringing in his contemporaries and in particular elevating the key women in his life, notably his mother Speranza and his wife, Constance. We believe the addition of music, our core career, is key to evoking the audience’s response and showing how events progressed.
“Eleanor Fitzsimons, author of ‘Wilde’s Women’ and a patron of the Wilde Society, has been our historical advisor and I have had over 200 pages of research notes, plus various books and articles, to work from. My mother was very knowledgeable about Wilde and a massive inspiration.”
It took Merrigan – who cites Thin Lizzy and Moving Hearts as early musical influences – only a matter of weeks to write the first draft but Vengeance is a work in progress and more scenes and music have been added since – “we are now on version 21!” Also in the pipeline is an online stream of this play-with-music for a worldwide audience.
Also in the cast are Martina Greenwood and Biz Lyon as Constance and Speranza, the women in Wilde’s life, Ross Scarfield as Edward Carson, Sonny Jalith as Lord Percy Douglas and Mattfo Mikkelsen as Father Cuthbert Dunne.
Morgan, who also wrote the songs for Fatdan Productions’ previous musical Love in the Harbour, calls Vengeance “a labour of love”. Her Dubliner husband, clearly a busy man of many parts, would surely agree.
Jeremy Chapman
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