A NewForms production · In development
Oscar Wilde: A Devised Immersive Experience
An evening among Victorian high society. Four comedies, one extravagant gathering, and everyone on their best behavior—until they’re absolutely not.
Project Overview
An original, devised immersive theatre experience combining Oscar Wilde’s four drawing-room comedies: Lady Windermere’s Fan, A Woman of No Importance, An Ideal Husband, and The Importance of Being Earnest. Their characters, stories, and scandals come together in one world, inviting audiences to spend an evening among Victorian high society. Rather than staging four separate plays, the production uses Wilde’s existing text and characters to devise something entirely new, exploring class, reputation, marriage, morality, and the ridiculous social expectations of the time.
The Concept
Audiences arrive as guests of an extravagant society gathering: a lavish gala, private club, or elaborate house party. The evening begins perfectly properly. Guests mingle, enjoy refreshments, play games, and get to know the eccentric members of high society. As the night goes on, things begin to unravel. Secrets come out, affairs are exposed, engagements fall apart, and everyone’s carefully maintained reputation is suddenly at risk.
Characters from all four plays exist within the same social circle, their overlapping stories creating new opportunities for conflict and comedy. The audience is part of the party, not just watching it: free to explore, interact with characters, participate in activities, exchange gossip, and potentially get caught up in the scandals themselves.
Artistic Approach
Developed through a collaborative devising process, the production uses Wilde’s plays as source material for an original story created specifically for an immersive setting. Wilde’s wit, language, and humor remain, while the stories unfold simultaneously throughout the space. An overarching narrative connects the evening, but guests may have completely different experiences depending on whom they meet and what they discover.
The party itself is central to the experience. Possibilities include high tea, card games, gossip, and a choreographed dance with traditional dance cards and perhaps a dance caller. Actors draw guests into conversations, share secrets, pass letters, and ask for help with their schemes. An elegant evening gradually falls apart: corsets burst open, lovers are revealed behind curtains, and carefully concealed scandals erupt into absolute chaos.
Design & Environment
Decadent, playful, and highly stylized, the world is inspired by Victorian drawing rooms and aristocratic society. A historic home, estate, or multiroom venue would allow audiences to move naturally between spaces and storylines. Costumes, music, scenic design, and refreshments would bring the world to life, making guests feel invited to a ridiculous high-society affair rather than simply attending a show.
Why This Project?
Wilde’s plays are especially suited to immersive theatre: private conversations, gossip, secrets, and people desperately maintaining appearances drive the action. Combining the four plays creates an opportunity for an original work built from rich existing material. More than a century later, their themes remain sharply relevant: class, sexism, social status, hypocrisy, public image, and the lengths people go to protect their reputations. For NewForms, this is an opportunity to devise original theatre, reimagine classics in a nontraditional space, and offer a genuinely fun, interactive experience.
Connection to EverFound’s Mission
Wilde’s criticism of social hypocrisy offers a potential connection to EverFound’s environmental mission. His characters often care more about appearing virtuous than behaving that way, opening a conversation about environmental responsibility, performative activism, and the gap between stated values and actual behavior. This connection would be explored organically during the devising process rather than imposed on the work.