Oscar Wilde | Two theatre programmes for the first production of The Importance of Being Earnest, 1895

Oscar Wilde

Two illustrated theatre programmes for the first production of The Importance of Being Earnest, at the St James’s Theatre on King Street. London: Mardon, Son & Hall, 1895. 4 pages, 4to (250 x 190 mm), from the beginning and end of the play's run, the latter omitting the author's name following his arrest:

i) St James’s Theatre | […] Thursday, February 14^th, 1895, | and every evening at 8.45. | The Importance of Being Earnest, | a Trivial Comedy for Serious People, | by Oscar Wilde.

ii) St James’s Theatre | […] Produced Thursday, February 14^th, 1895. |To-night at 9, | (Last Nights of) | The Importance of Being Earnest, | a Trivial Comedy for Serious People. 

OSCAR WILDE: HIS GREATEST PLAY AND PERSONAL CATASTROPHE. These two copies of the programme for the first production of The Importance of Being Earnest offer poignant evidence of Wilde’s rapid change of fortune in the early weeks of 1895.

Wilde was at the height of his public success when Earnest opened at the St James’s Theatre. The opening came on the back of three West End successes in as many years, and The Ideal Husband was still in production at the nearby Haymarket Theatre when Earnest premiered on Valentine’s Day 1895. It was produced by actor-manager George Alexander, who had also produced Lady Windermere’s Fan, and was met with ecstatic reviews. However, the play’s opening also triggered Wilde’s downfall: the Marquess of Queensberry intended to attend the first night in order to throw a bunch of carrots at the author in protest at his relationship with his son. When he was prevented from coming to the play, Queensberry sent Wilde his card with a note accusing him of homosexuality. Events moved quickly in the weeks that followed, and by early April Wilde was committed to prison and awaiting trial.

The public opprobrium that followed Wilde’s arrest drove his greatest play from the stage. George Alexander removed Wilde’s name from the programme on 6 April but the play closed one month later, after a run of just 86 days. The two programmes also show the replacement of Rose Leclercq, the first Lady Bracknell, with Emily Mary Kate Saker.