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In the hands of both the greatest authors and the most stylistically impoverished layman, letter writing can prove more revealing of one's personality than everyday conversation. A reader of letters has the opportunity to ponder the intricacies of a subtle turn of phrase, or the opportunity to fall asleep at a meandering bunch of words without a point. To read Oscar Wilde's letters is to not only be smitten by the command of his wit and his effortlessness of tone, but to glimpse the unpolished human being Wilde was. Humane, amorous and humble was Wilde torn away from the flamboyant character he is commonly portrayed as.
In Ever Yours, Oscar Brian Bedford approaches the lectern with a stack of paper and a glass of water to recite Wilde's letters in a formidable performance which - though reaching Shakespearean pitch once too often - does and admirable job of personalizing the man behind one of Stratford's big draws this season, The Importance of Being Earnest.

Bedford can captivate, charm, and command, but he can also tone that down and deliver, without flourish, the voice of Wilde's humanity… most of the time. It helps that a massive image of Wilde is omnipresent, hung just behind Bedford during the readings, but looking at the image and hearing Bedford's voice strikes a disconnect between the two which is slightly off.

One has to wonder why perform these letters in the first place. Couldn't one just go and buy a book of the collected letters of Oscar Wilde and read at home? Wouldn't this be satisfactory? It's not as if those who attend Ever Yours, Oscar are illiterate or easily distracted, unable to sit and read letters. Why then stage these letters?

I can imagine two reasons (beyond the assumption of the festival wanting to fill more seats): to transform the man from words into music, and to clear the fog surrounding Wilde and his personality.

Wilde wrote to be read, he wrote in a time when letters were passed around, re-read, laughed over, and discussed – much like You Tube videos are today. He didn't write so a reader could read alone. With Bedford at the helm, despite his occasional overacting, Wilde's voice booms and ripples through the Tom Patterson Theatre. His voice transmits, not only the sincerity of Wilde's sentiments, but also the musicality which Wilde overheard in London's high society of the 19th century. From the flippant cadences in Wilde's youth, to the certitude of his middle years, to the dignity of his final years, the body of Wilde is drawn from Bedford without pretension, so that it flourishes with joy rather than mannerism.

The other reason, to clear the fog, is more pertinent. With the recent death of Michael Jackson, it seems the world was quick to focus on the music of the man, rather than his faults. Rightfully so, but will time be so kind?

Wilde is shrouded in controversy, much like Jackson. Once the toast of London then sent to prison and insulted afterwards for being a homosexual, Wilde was exiled from high-society, moved to Paris and enjoyed the pleasures he was denied while in Britain, namely his fondness for young boys. He never concealed his affection and wrote to Robert Ross in one letter "Today I bade good-bye, with tears and one kiss, to the beautiful Greek Boy... he is the nicest boy you ever introduced to me."

In the same letter he states the boy won't soon forget him for they would kiss behind the alter in church. Yet, Wilde is not shunned from literature for his indulgences, it is society which has changed its mind as to what constitutes appropriate relationships, and Wilde lives on. His homosexuality is often seen less as a criminal act and more as part of his dissension against the uptight moralism of the Victorian era.

In Ever Yours, Oscar, Wilde is painted without illusions of his conduct and views. There is no attempt to apologize for Wilde's sexual orientation, or explanation to contextualize: Wilde existed as he was and this is transmitted honestly to the audience. There is no disclaimer before hand as to the "indecent content therein", because society doesn't operate as such. If anything society has mixed feelings about pederasty, but Wilde is still published and played with celebration.

However, sexuality isn't the only thing which needs airing out. After attending to his prison term, Wilde was passionately vocal about his admiration for his friends in prison, and in one particularly moving letter, he extols his views on the punishment of children, and he is right. The punishment of children in 19th century London was atrocious. To view these two facts side by side, pederasty and justice for children, in the same performance is to see Wilde as he saw himself, stripped from the labels lavished on him by society.

Maybe he was onto something when, during his trial, he said, "[pederasty] is that deep spiritual affection that is as pure as it is perfect...It is beautiful, it is fine, it is the noblest form of affection. There is nothing unnatural about it." Maybe he was advocating an understanding of humanity to uncover the finest spiritual, moral and amorous values, just maybe. May Michael Jackson and his own pederasty be so fortunate.