Oscar Wilde’s final play premiered weeks before the court case that led to his imprisonment for homosexuality, and the subtext of homoerotic desire that runs through this comedy of manners from 1895 has been well mined before now.
But it is rarer to see Algernon whirling on to the stage in a hot pink gown, like Marilyn Monroe on acid, or Earnest camping it up with hand on hip. Or indeed, their love interests coming in for a same sex kiss.
