David Westhead

Wilde -- This lush, historical drama is based on the late Richard Ellmann's definitive biography of creativegenius and author Oscar Wilde.

"A woman playing a woman. Where's the trick in that?"- Welcome to the 17th century stage, where Ned Kynaston's (Billy Crudup) performance of Desdemona in Shakespeare's Othello brings the house down nightly. Ned is the "most beautiful woman on the London stage." That is, until the King renounces the royal edict that only men can play women on stage. Enter Maria (Claire Danes), Ned's seemingly loyal dresser, who becomes an instant star, leaving Ned to suppress his ardent feminine traits and make a man of himself.

Ned's performance of Desdemona in Shakespeare's OTHELLO brings the house down nightly. That is, until the King allows women on stage. Overnight, Ned becomes a nonentity - that is, until his ex-dresser, Maria helps him become a real man again.

Stephen Fry plays the celebrated Irish playwright in this biographical drama that opens in Leadville, Colorado, during Oscar Wilde's 1882 lecture tour.