Rupert Everett as Oscar Wilde

A playwright and wit of prodigious standards, Oscar Wilde is one of the theater world's most romantic yet tragic icons. A man out of time, his scandalous trial for gross indecency abruptly put an end to his theatrical and literary careers, and is the focus of David Hare's (Skylight) The Judas Kiss, which transfers to New York following an acclaimed run on the West End.

Stage and screen actor Rupert Everett (My Best Friend's Wedding, The Importance of Being Earnest) plays the lead role with an unparalleled grace and sensitivity. His Wilde is not the colorful socialite of his younger days, but rather a melancholic, wounded figure, drifting inevitably towards his own self-destruction. Neil Armfield, who helmed the West End production, returns to direct.

A Play reborn

The Judas Kiss was first performed in London in 1998, where it met with initially middling reviews, with many critics feeling that Liam Neeson was completely miscast in the role of Wilde. This revival has had quite the opposite reception, and has been lavished with praise, with Rupert Everett's Olivier-nominated portrayal of the playwright called "the performance of his career." After stunning London audiences, The Judas Kiss plays a limited in Toronto in May before coming to New York.

What Is The Judas Kiss About?

The scene is the Cadogan Hotel in 1895, where Wilde gathers his thoughts after losing a libel suit against the Marquess of Queensbury, the father of his lover Alfred Douglas, aka Boisie. The Marquess, enraged by the couple's recklessly public and, in Victorian society's view, amoral affair, openly insulted the writer and thus a lawsuit ensued. Now the defeated writer struggles with a burden of conscience - flee to France to escape persecution or stay and stand his ground, even when Boisie's love is fickle and inconstant.