THE WIT of Oscar Wilde is brought to stage of Leamington’s Loft Theatre in Lady Windermere’s Fan.
The production, running from March 30 to April 9, is the 50th directed by William Wilkinson – a record in the 100 year history of the Loft.
It is London 1892. As a young woman, Mrs Erlynne deserted her husband and new born baby for her lover, an affair that did not survive. She was cast out of respectable London society and has lived on her wits ever since.
Her baby has grown up, married and is now Lady Windermere. Mrs Erlynne choses to blackmail Lord Windermere – pay up or she will destroy his wife’s life by revealing herself as her disgraced mother.
But she did not bargain for her feelings on meeting her daughter and discovering she is about to make the same mistake she made herself. She is still a mother at heart, but sees her dilemma – how can she act as a mother without doing untold damage?
William said: “Wilde`s wit and elegance is matched by a moving and beautifully told story of a mother and daughter relationship, where the daughter is not aware that the outcast person who comes into her life is her mother whom she believes died shortly after her birth.
“It is a play I first saw as a teenager with aspirations to work in the theatre. It got to me then, fired my ambition, and age has not withered its power to stir the emotions and delight the senses. I am honoured, just before retirement, to have a chance to direct it and particularly to have at my side a very perceptive co-director, Lorna Middleton, whose talent is a marker for me to live up to.’
Visit www.lofttheatrecompany.com for tickets and further details.
