Bribery and corruption - Wilde ideas for all seasons

Corruption in public life, bribery, blackmail, the selling of insider information; a play for today? Certainly, but not of today…

Corruption in public life, bribery, blackmail, the selling of insider information; a play for today? Certainly, but not of today.

Oscar Wilde's An Ideal Husband was described, for its first production in 1895, as "a new and original play of modern life". Fast-forward a century or so, and it still rings bells. One of the better critics of its day had this to offer. "In a certain sense Mr Wilde is our only thorough playwright. He plays with everything: with wit, with philosophy, with drama, with actors and audience, with the whole theatre." That was said by George Bernard Shaw, to whom one might civilly respond that it takes one to know one. Mr Wilde will be in formal residence at the Gate from Tuesday next.

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