Oscar Wilde On Trial

HM Prison Reading opened for the first time to the public as artists, writers and performers responded to its most notorious inmate, Oscar Wilde.

Inside the very jail where Wilde served most of his sentence as part of Artangel’s ‘Inside’ project, Reading’s acclaimed theatre company Reading Between the Lines presented this special performance.

During three sensational trials in London’s Old Bailey in early 1895, Oscar Wilde stood in the dock and faced his accusers with great dignity and unmatchable wit.

Wilde was initially confident that he would win, but by the end of the third trial he was devastated to be found guilty of ‘extensive corruption of the most hideous kind among young men’ and sentenced to two years in prison.

Presented by kind permission of Merlin Holland and John O’Connor.