Matthew Sierra, a CATCO 2016-17 acting apprentice (left) and Josh Katawick, resident ensemble member of the Cincinnati Shakespeare Company, appear in the regional premiere of Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde. Photo courtesy of Sarah Mills Bacha
This weekend CATCO presents the regional premiere of Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde. Moises Kaufman tells the story of Oscar Wilde’s downfall in this two-act play full of actual trial transcripts and personal letters from Wilde.
Oscar Wilde, acclaimed British playwright infamously lost his reputation in just a few months after being accused of libel and gross indecency, which is a term used in British law that refers to sexual activity among males. When actual sodomy could not be proven, gross indecency was used as an ambiguous catch-all for other homosexual activity.
“One of our many goals at CATCO is to present new work,” says Steven C. Anderson, director of Gross Indecency and producing director of CATCO. “The regional premiere of Gross Indecency, a poignant, gripping work … is a work that forces us to think and question written by one of the contemporary theater world’s most compelling voices.”
New to the CATCO stage, Josh Katawick will perform the lead role of Oscar Wilde. Katawick, an Ohio native, was recently honored with a National Medal of Arts award from the National Endowment for the Arts.
Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wild will run from Nov. 2-20 at the Verne Riffe Center Studio Two Theatre, 77 High St. Visit http://www.catco.org/ for more information on show times and ticket pricing.
CATCO’s 2016-17 season will also include Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery, Sex with Strangers, I Do! I Do! and Henry Ford’s Model E.
Jenny Wise is a contributing writer. Feedback welcome at gbishop@cityscenemediagroup.com.
