Moisés Kaufman’s Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde continues the Hilberry Theatre’s 51st season in Midtown Detroit. Playing Jan. 10 through March 22, Kaufman’s Lucille Lortel and Outer Critics Circle award-winning work is a fast-paced, historically accurate, documentary style piece of theatre that reveals the destructive powers of hate and prejudice.
Set in 1895 London, this courtroom drama draws from a collection of court records, diaries, and news sources to provide audiences a firsthand look at how hateful prejudice cut short the career of one of the great artists of the 19th century. Oscar Wilde brought a libel suit against the Marquess of Queensberry, the father of his youthful lover, for having publicly declared Wilde a sodomite. As a result, England's man-of-the-hour set in motion a series of events that would quickly lead to his ruin. During the course of these trials, Wilde’s art became a topic of much scrutiny, with detractors often questioning whether Wilde’s work should even be considered art. Kaufman offers the “possibility that art can give us tools to deal with life in a way that is much more useful – that it can bring back a certain sort of profound spirituality.”
John Corvino, Chair of the Department of Philosophy at Wayne State University, will take the stage at 7:15 p.m. before the performance on Jan. 16 for a discussion on themes central to the show. Corvino has written, debated, and lectured extensively on gay rights, and frequently debates with opponents of same-sex marriage including Maggie Gallagher, the former head of the National Organization for Marriage, and Glenn Stanton from the Christian conservative campaigning group Focus on the Family. Corvino argues that spirited dialogue and debate with opponents of homosexuality and same-sex marriage is essential to convince the wider American public of both the merits of same-sex marriage and the moral acceptability of homosexuality.
Tickets for Gross Indecency range from $12–$30 and are available by calling the Hilberry Theatre Box Office at 313-577-2972, online, or by visiting the box office at 4743 Cass Ave.