Press-release. On the 20th, 21st of March, 2010 the opening night of the performance for comedy "Lady Windermere's Fan" by Oscar Wilde will take place in the Saratov Kiselev Youth Theater.

The graduation performance of the 4th grade students of the theater department of the Sobinov Saratov State Conservatory.

Staging director – RF People’s actor Yury Osherov
Director – Alexandr Yakovlevich Soloviev
Teaching-director - RF Meritorious Actress Nina Panteleeva
Production-designer – Grigory Solomin.

Oscar Wilde (1854—1900) is an Irish poet, dramatist, writer, essayist, free-mason.  He is one of the most famous playwrights of the end of the 19th century. O. Wilde was fond of the “esthetic movement” ideas that considered necessary to revive beauty in the everyday life as a way to overcome empiricism and rationalism of the bourgeois society.  In 1891 he wrote his famous novel “The Picture of Dorian Gray”, in which he expressed his ideas in most remarkable way, his main thesis was that Art is greater than life. After that plays “Salome” and “The Importance of Being Earnest” appeared. In our theater there was a performance on the mentioned comedy in the middle of 80s.

RF People’s actors Yu. Osherov and A. Soloviev have chosen O.Wilde’s comedy  “Lady Windermere's Fan” as a graduation performance for students this year. Action in the play takes place in London in one day, in the house of Lord Windermere and his wife and in the bachelor’s apartments of Lord Darlington in the beginning of the 1890s. O. Wilde wrote the comedy in 1892 and noted that “Lady Windermere's Fan” is a play about a good woman.

The Windermere couple enjoyed their family idyll. But suddenly their peace was disturbed by the mysterious guest Mrs. Erlynne’s appearance; the hostess considers her guest as her rival. Having lent herself to jealousy Lady Windermere was ready to cheat on her husband, their marriage was in danger. And again – Mrs. Erlynne interfered in the situation. After the successful opening night of the performance for "Lady Windermere's Fan " in London O. Wile said to the audience: “I congratulate you on the great success of your performance, which persuades me that you think almost as highly of the play as I do.”.

In this comedy of high society there is a lot of witty salon’s chat, bright aphorisms and paradoxes, in all his sparkle Wilde’s conversational talents are presented in the play. Magazines named his as “the best modern playwright”, marked his intelligence, originality, the perfection of style. Sharpness of the thoughts, elegance of paradoxes are so impressing that you’re fascinated with it during the whole play. O. Wilde could compel everything to the game and the “game of wits” often becomes the goal in and of itself and then the impression of the significance and brightness is indeed build from the air. And such a delicate “game of wits” will be presented by the 4th grade students of the theater department of the Sobinov Saratov State Conservatory in their graduation performance.