My Scandalous Life is a counterpoint to The Secret Fall of Constance Wilde, one of the many acclaimed plays by Thomas Kilroy, a writer deservedly recognized for his ‘Lifetime Achievement’ in the Irish Times / ESB Theatre Awards 2004.
Oscar Wilde, did you say? That’s all you lot ever ask about . . .
It’s my life now.’
These plaintive notes form the opening chord of Thomas Kilroy’s probing play, the story of Oscar Wilde’s lover, Lord Alfred Douglas, struggling to reclaim his own identity.
Forever linked to Wilde and the notorious trials which led to Wilde’s imprisonment, Douglas — or ‘Bosie’ — lived for nearly half a century after the death of Wilde in 1900. As the Second World War rages outside, his monologue reveals unexpected depths of feeling and humour as he copes with marriage and the tragic fate of his only son.
