“Some love too little, some too long,
Some sell, and others buy;
Some do the deed with many tears,
And some without a sigh:
For each man kills the thing he loves,
Yet each man does not die.”

The Ballad of Reading Gaol was the poet and writer Oscar Wilde’s final work. From celebrated playwright and society figure to a broken man dying in exile in Paris, The Ballad of Reading Gaol is a heartrending exploration of the deprivation of liberty, a spectacular fall from grace and a soul-searching quest to hold onto the shreds of humanity during one man’s darkest hour.

This adaptation of The Ballad of Reading Gaol mixes the power and grotesque beauty of Wilde’s words with the anger, scandal and salacious gossip of his criminal trial to tell the story of the punishment and despair experienced by prisoners at the turn of the century.

Proforça Theatre Company presents a visceral new staging of Oscar Wilde’s haunting and evocative piece which explores oppression, censorship, and conformity in and ever more conservative society. With themes which are as relevant to us in our world today as they were over 100 years ago, and particularly notable in the 50th year since the decriminalisation of homosexuality in the UK.

The exciting new staging of this piece of work is the perfect companion piece to our September production of “The Importance of Being Earnest”, also being performed at the Lion and Unicorn Theatre.

For more information, check out www.proforca.co.uk, on Twitter , on and