A one-man show built from Oscar Wilde's writing and first performed in Dublin in 1960 has opened at the Park Theatre in Finsbury Park, running from 27 July to 22 August 2026.

Alastair Whatley is the solo performer in The Importance of Being Oscar, a piece originally created by Michéal Mac Liammóir (1899–1978). Mac Liammóir was an Englishman who adopted an Irish identity and became a towering figure in Irish theatre as an actor, director, writer and designer. He was also openly gay in Ireland at a time when homosexuality remained criminalised there until 1994 — a detail that gives the show's celebration of Wilde, himself imprisoned for gross indecency, an extra layer of bite.

The production is directed by Michael Fentiman and produced by Original Theatre, co-produced with Reading Rep. It has already played Jermyn Street Theatre and a UK tour before arriving at the Park, a 200-seat venue in north London. Original Theatre is a returning company to the building.

The show runs nearly two hours with an interval. The first half features the famous interview scene between Jack Worthing and Lady Bracknell from The Importance of Being Earnest. The second turns darker, drawing on passages from Wilde's prison letter De Profundis and his poem The Ballad of Reading Gaol. Wilde died in poverty and exile at the age of 46.

Madeleine Girling's set is a minimalist disc-shaped design, featuring a circular ring of light and a lamp whose base represents two figures in a clinch. Whatley performs in a burnt-orange corduroy suit. The production also includes brief extracts from Mac Liammóir's own original recording of the show, which was broadcast on RTÉ — Ireland's national broadcaster.

The piece has had a deliberate regional life before this London run. It opened at Reading Rep as part of a season that also included Dracula and The Turn of the Screw, with full-price tickets there ranging from £24.50 to £30. Reading Rep's staging offered accessible performances including a signed performance, a touch tour and a relaxed performance. Park Theatre lists the show under its Drama genre, with performances beginning at 7pm.

Production photographs are by Marc Brenner.

The Importance of Being Oscar was first performed at Dublin's Gate Theatre in 1960, and the show has been a fixture of Irish theatrical life — and occasional international touring — in the decades since. Mac Liammóir performed it for decades until his death in 1978, and it has been revived by others over the years. What brings this production into view now is its arrival at a London fringe venue with a director and creative team who have given it a contemporary visual frame while keeping Mac Liammóir's voice — literally, through those archive extracts — inside the room.