Jersey-born cabaret star takes to Arts Centre stage for Wilde performance
What do you get when you combine the most iconic scenes of 19th Century playwright Oscar Wilde, with one of the Channel Islands' most colourful of actors? Jonathan Wills has been to find out...
As part of Jersey Arts Centre's 40th Birthday celebrations, cabaret performer Dr Adam Perchard is taking to the stage for Bunburying: The Importance of Being Dr Adam Perchard.
The show is a combination of Dr Perchard's two great loves, literature and cabaret.
Inspired by the 19th Century playwright Oscar Wild, Dr Perchard says: "He's become such a mascot of the queer movement, which is wonderful, but we often view him as sort of unproblematically gay, when in fact he had a very loving marriage with his wife Constance, particularly for the first few years.
"[Wilde] talks about rereading the Importance of Being Earnest and says 'when I look back at the play I can't believe how far I pushed talking about that tiger life', he means queer love."
Dr Adam Perchard and Oscar Wilde attended the same college at Oxford University, which is where Jersey-born Perchard was an academic, lecturing in English Literature at universities around the UK. It was after this that he made a name for himself as a cabaret performer across the world.
The performance has been described as a "joyful mixture of live song, sequins, sassy storytelling, literary criticism, and classic comedy".
Dr Perchard says: “The Jersey Arts Centre has been wonderful to me: championing my work, encouraging me at every turn, and helping me to develop as an artist. I simply would not have the career I have today without them. So it is my huge honour and my great joy to make this show to help celebrate their 40th birthday. Thank you, babies!”.
The show is on at the Jersey Arts Centre at 4pm on Sunday 22 January.