Lady Windermere's Fan

Oscar Wilde in Boston

by J'aimie Graham, Dramaturg of Lady Windermere's Fan

In 1881, Oscar Wilde set sail for America.

The great wit of British high society was set to lead a year-long lecture tour of the United States, lecturing on such topics as Decorative Arts or “The House Beautiful” - topics which were common to Wilde’s followers in the aestheticism movement.  While Wilde met his fair share of critics on this tour of America (many of which simply did not agree with his manner of dress) there was something that Wilde saw in America that made him want to come back.  Perhaps it was the eager reception of Oscar Wilde in North Attleboro, Massachusetts at the Wamsutta Opera House that possessed the writer to bring his first dramatic success, Lady Windermere’s Fan to Boston two years later for its American debut.

Lady Windermere’s Fan: A Play About a Good Woman is regarded as Oscar Wilde’s first dramatic success despite the harsh reviews granted to it by critics in London.  At the premiere of the play at the St. James Theater in London’s West End, Wilde chose to open the evening by addressing his critics from the stage.  In his impromptu speech, Wilde attacked his critics for their earlier disapproval of his dramatic work, causing the reviewers to perhaps regard Lady Windermere in a harsher light than any of his previous texts.   Despite bad reviews, audiences were so enthralled by the social satire that their support kept the play running.  Admirers of the show took to wearing green carnation boutonnières (taking up the accessory after having seen Wilde wear it on opening night in London) in support of Wilde’s comedy. The financial success and tremendous audience support of the production in London provoked Oscar Wilde to move the play to the United States - more specifically, to the Columbia Theater in Boston.

The U.S. debut of Lady Windermere’s Fan occurred at the Columbia Theater on Washington Street in the heart of downtown Boston in 1893.  The production was produced by A.M. Palmer, and starred popular Canadian actress Julia Arthur as Lady Windermere and Maurice Barrymore (contemporary actress Drew Barrymore’s great-grandfather) as Lord Darlington.  While Wilde did not make any dramatic opening speeches on opening night in Boston, the show was still regarded in high esteem, earning a review in the January 23, 1893 edition of the New York Times, which praised not just the show, but the Boston audience:

The dramatic event of the present season here took place at the Columbia Theatre last night.  It is not difficult to understand its London success, and its unqualified reception here tonight bespeaks a successful run.  The company was cordially received by one of the most brilliant audiences ever seen in the theatre, and calls before the curtain were the rule through out the evening.

The show had finally earned what it was missing in London: widespread approval from the critics.  Shortly after the production opened in Boston, A.M. Palmer secured space in New York City at the now-razed Madison Garden Theater at 33rd Street.  Wilde would have his first production on the Great White Way thanks to an outstanding reception in Boston.

It is most fitting that Emerson Stage should choose to stage Oscar Wilde’s masterpiece 115 years after its American debut just a few short blocks away. We are happy to welcome Wilde back to the town which jumpstarted his dramatic career in the United States and hope that modern audiences are just as enthralled by Wilde’s sparkling wit as the Victorian theatergoers were over a century ago.

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