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The play began life as the concept of Venezuelan, Spanish speaking, Moises Kaufman. Like Joseph Conrad, Kaufman writes in his second language, English, with complete mastery.

The actual trials of English poet and playwright Oscar Wilde are dramatically exposed. The date was 1895, the apex of the Victorian Era. The thick covering of propriety could hardly disguise the torrent of depravity of English society.

Among the upper classes, nearly anything was tolerated as long as decorum was observed. To expose a weakness, to flaunt any aberration from the conventional good form that ruled society, was to fall, precipitously, from grace.

Wilde was one of the darlings of the English literary world. His plays were smash hits. His poetry was admired. His flamboyant life style and appearance were tolerated. He was sought after by the most elegant salons and hostesses of the day. His scathing wit was polite society’s rapier.

All of this success and adulation bred hubris, pride, in Wilde. Like a Greek tragic hero, he felt that he could do nothing wrong. He fell into calamity through his own hubris.

The circumstances are all historical. In fact, the entire play is told with historic and literary references. Wilde’s lover was the young Lord Alfred Douglas. Douglas, son of the Marquis of Queensberry (of boxing rules fame), was an anathema to his priggish father.

The play ingeniously uses nine men, each playing various roles. The only constant characters are Wilde and Douglas. Four men are seated in front of the stage at a long table. They serve as chorus, footnoting many of the remarks with references to newspapers, books and court records. They often become characters in the play, moving easily into their parts.

In order to “save” his son, Queensberry left his card at his club with a scathing denunciation of Wilde as “posing as a sodomite.” At Douglas’s urging, Wilde sued Queensberry for libel. In this first trial, Wilde is glib and patronizing. He feels that no verdict can possibly go against him.

At first, Wilde is brilliant, he captivates the audience as he captivates the assumed jury and the barristers. Suddenly, he becomes too glib!

Queensberry has not accused Wilde of homosexuality; he accuses him of “posing” as one. In Victorian morality, you are what you appear to be. The hints of Wilde’s actual behavior begin to creep into the trial.

The air of the trial changes. Wilde’s demeanor, facial expressions and voice transmute, as well. The subtle changes leading to the ultimate gross breakdown of the glib social lion are an acting tour de force.

This trial ends with the acquittal of Queensberry and leads to the arrest and prosecution, by the crown, of Wilde. He has done the unspeakable. He has been exposed. His warts are visible instead of heavily lacquered by social graces.

The final two trials lead, later that year, to Wilde’s imprisonment, impoverishment and to his death. In the final trials, the repugnance of the magistrates is easily felt. “Worse than the grizzliest murder.” “Unthinkable and disgusting.” “The crime of the century.” These are opinions voiced by the actors quoting contemporary sources.

Wilde is broken, Douglas escapes to France. Morality, Victorian style, triumphs. What is lost is Wilde’s constant plea for the value of art. “True art is above morals,” petitions Wilde. “There is only good art and bad art, not moral or immoral art.”

Wilde is clearly a man born before his time. The author makes his case for alienation with literary purity. The writing in the play is pristine. The plot draws the audience into real empathy for the characters and into the real dilemma they each suffer.

Kaufman expresses his own background of alienation. His family, transplanted to South America from Europe, made him a Jew in a Catholic world. His education, at an Orthodox Jewish school, made him, as a gay youth, further alienated. He brings that experience into the quandary that is Oscar Wilde’s tragic self-destruction.

The Theatre Guild cast was brilliant. Led by J.J. Tiemeyer as Oscar Wilde and master actor Gil Martin as Queensberry, the riveting drama was made convincing. Director Boyd placed many actors in debut roles with the Guild. Many were veterans.

Greg Hall, Bart Clemmer Matthew Smith, Patrick Hayes, Andrew Adams, Leighton Hambrick and Jonathan Horwitz made their ways through their many parts persuasively. As expected, the costuming, props and set were pure Victorian. The Guild never misses a chance to show off its talent for authenticity.

Dayton Ballet announces auditions for its holiday production, THE NUTCRACKER. Children chosen through auditions will have the opportunity to perform with the professional Dayton Ballet dancers onstage at the magnificent Schuster Center. Auditions will be held on Saturday, Sept. 24 at the Dayton Ballet School Studios, located on the 4th floor of the Victoria Theatre, 140 North Main Street in downtown Dayton. For more information call, Dayton Ballet School (937) 223-1542.

Young dancers, 5-12 years of age will perform in such NUTCRACKER roles as party-goers, mice, sheep, angels and toy soldiers. Audition times are scheduled by age group. For ages 11-12, auditions begin at 1:30 p.m., ages 8-10 at 2: 30 p.m. and ages 5-7 at 3:30 p.m. For each group, the audition process will take approximately one hour. Parents should register their children 30 minutes before the audition begins. There is no audition fee.

Girls attending the audition should wear a solid color leotard, pink tights and pink ballet slippers. Boys should be dressed in black tights, white T-shirts and black or white ballet slippers.

Performances of THE NUTCRACKER begin Dec. 16 and run through Dec. 23, 2005.

Tickets are now on sale for both evening and matinee performances. To purchase tickets call Ticket Center Stage at (937) 228-3630, toll-free at 1-888-228-3630, or on-line at www.ticketcenterstage.com.

Opera Guild announces Ear for Opera program

The Opera Guild of Dayton announces the fall program of Ear for Opera, an entertaining adult education program of lectures and listening. The seven-week series begins Tuesday, Sept. 13, with sessions on each of the opera performances in the Dayton Opera 2005-2006 season and some extra bonuses.

“This delightful series will increase your knowledge and enjoyment of opera,” says Peggy Conner, series organizer. “You not only get facts, it’s very entertaining. Our speakers are funny and knowledgeable.”

Sept. 13 – “Carmen,” presented by Charles Wendelken-Wilson, former New York City Opera conductor and now Artistic Director at public radio station WDPR. Maestro Wendelken-Wilson will conduct Carmen in October and offers his insights into this Spanish gypsy.

Sept. 20 - “A Dayton Opera Season, Concept to Curtain” with General and Artistic Director Tom Bankston, Production/Artistic Manager Pam Eyink and Stage Manager Caroline Bankey. This team will relate how the season is planned, the many details of putting it together, and what happens backstage during a performance.

Sept. 27 – “Die Fledermaus,” with Dayton Opera Chorus Master and Maestro Jeffrey Powell, conductor for this opera in March 2006. Powell will introduce the sparkling party in three-quarter time, where all the characters have their own ideas of fun.

Oct. 4 – “Rossini and La Cenerentola” (Cinderella) with Joey Bates, formerly with Wright State University’s Theatre Arts Department. Maestro Bates will explain that in Rossini’s day, his name meant opera. The character Don Magnifico dominates poor Cinderella’s life in this opera, which will be performed in January 2006.

Oct. 11 – “Oriental Opera” with Maestro Bates goes beyond drums, gongs and dissonance to share selections from opera with oriental backgrounds. This is more than Butterfly!

Oct. 18 - “How to Go to Opera in New York City,” with Dr. Burt Saidel, writer for The Oakwood Register, and Hank Cates, host of Saturday opera for WDPR, will offer suggestions of how to go, what to see, where to eat, where to stay, and what not to miss while you are in the Big Apple.

Oct. 25 - “Mozart Opera,” with Maestro Neal Gittleman, music director of the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra. In anticipation of Dayton Opera’s Star Gala, “The Mozart Effect,” in May 2006, this homage to Mozart, the master of melody, shows he was equally brilliant in his understanding of how to write for voice and dramas.

All Ear for Opera programs are open to the public. Sessions are presented on Tuesday evenings from 7 to 9 p.m. at Patterson Homestead, 1815 Brown Street, with a large, lighted parking lot. Cost is $40 for seven evenings. Single sessions may be attended for $10.

Colossal kiln fires up in Yellow Springs

Miami Valley Pottery has completed the first firing of its newly constructed Anagama wood-fired kiln. The potter, Naysan McIlhargey and his stepfather, David Mader, spent twelve months building this mammoth brick kiln. Comprised of over 12,000 high-duty and super-duty firebrick, the kiln is 28 feet long, 6.5 feet tall and 8 feet wide, making it the largest in the Miami Valley. It took Naysan three months of throwing plates, pitchers, bowls, lamps and planters to fill the kiln. Miami Valley Pottery’s first firing consumed 6 cords of wood. The flames were stoked steadily over 75 hours finally reaching temperatures of 2450 degrees Fahrenheit. Wood-fired pottery has a very unique look, created by the combustion of ash and other organic material. The tradition of wood-fired pottery dates back to ancient China. Before opening Miami Valley Pottery, Naysan apprenticed with two of America’s most famous wood-fired potters; Todd Piker of Cornwall Bridge Pottery in Connecticut and Cary Hulin of Holmes County Pottery in northeastern Ohio.

Miami Valley Pottery will have its first kiln-opening sale for the public Friday September 16th through Sunday September 18th at Miami Valley Pottery in Yellow Springs. The hours will be 10 a.m to 4 p.m. on Friday, and 9 a.m. – 6 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Visit our website at www.mypottery.com.

Chanel Show - Metropolitan Museum of Art

By Loretta Weber

The Chanel show at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Costume Institute is a stunner. No pressing your face against the glass of that metaphoric bakery window, the clothes and jewels are displayed in open white boxes. If you love clothes and jewelry, you’ll be in heaven. Clothing heaven is exactly what the Costume Institute is, while the other clothes that don’t make the cut are chewed up and made into that mattress you’re sleeping on.

Sixty or so outfits are displayed, some designed by Mr. Lagerfeld made a minute ago and Chanels from the 20’s, 30’s, 40’s and 50’s. You can’t tell which is which. Getting it half right means you’ve spent your life studying clothes and need to get out more. One of the most beautiful gowns by Chanel is called Gypsy, an evening dress in black and white tulle, the skirt widely stripped – worn with a multicolored taffeta sash – the sash reminiscent of a military order. The other by Mr. Lagerfeld – made up of black silk satin ribbons cut the size of a business card, tumbling one on another, evoking a Chuck Close portrait, this a strapless, a-line gown with a train as heavy as two feathers.

Perfume, creams, lipsticks – packaging from the 30’s – looking like today – her first jewelry collection – all diamonds – the best real estate to buy she said during the lean years of the depression. Costume and real jewels from later times – all tossed together - lots of crosses and chains and pearls – all so beautiful. The crowd at the show looking on with big smiles like the crowd at Jackie’s show – The White House Years and these smiles were on people in New York – post 9/11 and 7/11. Mr. Keats was right “ A thing of beauty is a joy forever”.

Did you know your pearls should be restrung every other year? That lace, like knit, can be elastic? That luxury is not the opposite of poverty but a unique luxe - like wearing fur on the inside of a coat, not out. And, if a woman all dressed up walks into a grocers and she’s laughed at, the clerks are correct and she’s not, no matter how much Armani, de la Renta, Rolex and Winston she’s wearing, it’s not what you wear but how you wear it. To be elegant, one should be comfortable, and, on close inspection look better than afar. Always. These words are straight from the lips of Gabrielle (Coco) Chanel the ultimate, timeless designer, a modern independent woman born in 1883 into lowly circumstances, died in 1971, leaving millions with a name and style known the world over. No comme il faut (proper) for her. This woman did her own thing and we’re still following behind her, wearing her icons, the pearls, the flowers, the sling-back two-toned shoe, the tweedy suit, the little black dress, her make-up and scent Chanel No. 5, still the number one seller in the world. And, the only thing Marilyn Monroe reportedly wore to bed. Today, the House of Chanel is in the profoundly innovative hands of Karl Lagerfeld.

Now, here’s a Carrie Bradshaw Question – after all this is the City and Chanel is sexy. Would we even be talking Chanel were it not for Karl Lagerfeld – or do I have that in reverse?