Jake Mace
Krista Scott’s upcoming Edinburgh Festival Fringe show dives into Oscar Wilde’s work from the perspective of Lillie Langtry, an actor who was at one time a close confidant of Wilde. Krista aims to explore the female characters that Wilde brought to life in her plays against the backdrop of the era of strong female protagonists. We caught up with Krista for a pixelated pint to find out how she came to develop the show, and what audiences can expect.
You can catch Wilde Women from August 1st to 16th (not the 10th) at Fern Studio at Greenside @ George Street from 14:00 (50mins). Tickets are available through the EdFringe Online Box Office.
Jake: Hi Krista! Wilde Women follows a woman called Lillie Langtry – tell us about her and how you first encountered her.
Krista: Hi Jake! I vaguely remember hearing in graduate school about a British actress named Lillie Langtry who became a hot commodity in the US in the late 19th century. When I began researching Oscar Wilde’s work and associations her name kept popping up, so I did some digging on her. It turns out that for a time she and Oscar were very close confidants, and her start in show business is largely due to Wilde’s influence. When she first arrived in London society with her husband, Edward Langtry, her unique beauty was immediately recognized amongst socialites and the artists who hobnobbed with them; Frank Miles sketched her portrait launching her career as a “Professional Beauty,” a genteel term for a high-end portrait model. The Prince of Wales also took an interest in Langtry, and their legendary affair included romantic retreats in Scotland.
Miles introduced Lillie to Wilde, who became besotted—to the point of occasionally sleeping on her doorstep— and dedicated several poems to her. When her husband left London and took all their financial assets with him, Wilde convinced Langtry that the theatre was her calling and hired a famous acting teacher for her, and her first appearance on stage was in the lead role of She Stoops to Conquer. That production toured throughout England and Scotland in 1882, and when a top American producer saw her performance at the Edinburgh Royal Lyceum, he booked her on an extensive US tour playing Rosalind in As You Like It. Langtry soon became one of the highest paid performers in the US. So in my show, Lillie is back at the Royal Lyceum where she got her big break!
Jake: Tell us about why you decided to bring the story of the women surrounding Oscar Wilde, and a little bit about them.
Krista: It’s not so much about the women in Wilde’s life as it is discovering the female characters he brought to life in his plays; women who are fiercely independent thinkers and achievers. Really, he was the first to feature women protagonists untethered by marriage or family, such as Mrs. Cheverly in an Ideal Husband, Salomé, and Mrs. Erlynne in Lady Windermere’s Fan—a role he wrote for Lillie Langtry, incidentally, although she never played it. I do mention the first “Wilde woman,” Oscar’s mother, Lady Jane Wilde, a poetess who was “considered to be the most ardent and hot-headed of Irish Nationalists,” so I imagine she had a strong influence on how Wilde portrayed women in his writing.
Jake: Tell us about what the audience can expect coming into the show, and what they might not expect about the show.
Krista: The audience should expect to be transported to 1900 in the backstage dressing room at the Edinburgh Royal Lyceum, welcomed by a classy, funny and audacious actress who brings them in on a secret mission. It will be like having tea with a really interesting and entertaining celebrity.
The audience might not expect that they will be a tacit scene partner in the performance—a co-conspirator in Lilie’s plan to create a solo performance piece centred around Wilde’s female characters called WILDE WOMEN (a little “meta-theatre” for you…)
Jake: What are you hoping the audience might take away from the experience, if anything?
Krista: I hope they will understand the profound effect that Wilde had on the representation of women onstage. Much of the development of psychologically complex women’s roles in today’s theatre can be traced back to Wilde’s work. George Bernard Shaw wrote Mrs. Warren’s Profession soon after seeing the opening performance of Lady Windermere’s Fan, and the similarities in social politics and the nonconformist mother roles are undeniable. August Strindberg and Anton Chekov followed suit, and a new course was charted for Western drama.
I also hope the audiences will come to appreciate the dazzling wit and beguiling irony embedded in Wilde’s rhetoric. I think people will want to know more about Oscar Wilde and about Lillie Langtry after seeing the play and will start their own research on their impact on feminist theatre—on feminism in general.
Jake: With Edinburgh Fringe 2025 just around the corner, what are you most excited for?
Krista: People who attend festivals like this are usually very open-minded and curious, so I’m really looking forward to the audiences and to networking with other actors and artists. I’m also excited to be one of the worker bees in a huge hive of theatre people!
Jake: Given the themes of Binge Fringe, if your show was a beverage of any kind (alcoholic, non-alcoholic – be as creative as you like!), what would it be and why?
Krista: Definitely a Pimm’s Cup, darling. Sweet, refreshing, and one is never enough.
A reminder, you can catch Wilde Women from August 1st to 16th (not the 10th) at Fern Studio at Greenside @ George Street from 14:00 (50mins). Tickets are available through the EdFringe Online Box Office.
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