WILDE ABOUT OSCAR; ‘DREAMS OF FALLING’ TRIO: LIVE @ THE MECHANIC’S INSTITUTE // Sunday, 25 August 2024 // Doors Open 3:30 pm, Show Starts 4:00 pm// Venue: The Mechanic’s Institute, Lawson

‘Dreams of Falling’ is a trio comprising JOHN SHAND (spoken word, percussion), REBECCA DANIEL (1741 violin, vocals) and LEIGH BIRKETT (guitar, vocals). They celebrate the man, the myth and his work in Wilde About Oscar, drawing on quotes and excerpts to build a picture of the full flowering of Wilde’s brilliance, with musical accompaniment and interludes (from tango to Middle Eastern). The first half of the show shines a light on the work of others, including Dylan Thomas’s hilarious Under Milk Wood and Walkley Award-winning John Shand’s writing, from poetry to plays to his portraits of jazz legends Billie Holiday and Django Reinhardt.

“I have put my genius into my life and only my talent into my works,” Oscar Wilde fibbed, having liberally sprinkled that genius over Salome, The Happy Prince and The Importance of Being Earnest. Poet W.B. Yeats called him “the greatest talker of all time”, and between his works, his letters and his conversation, arguably the wittiest man in history took shape.

Wilde was a clever wit and renowned for many enduring observations, such as’ NOWADAYS PEOPLE KNOW THE PRICE OF EVERYTHING AND THE VALUE OF NOTHING‘ and ‘I MAY AS WELL BE MYSELF AS EVERYONE ELSE IS TAKEN’.