Video: Rob Marland on Wilde’s ‘Vera’

Oscar Wilde’s first play, a melodramatic tragedy about Russian revolutionaries, flopped when first staged in New York in 1883. In this talk Rob Marland, the author of ‘Oscar Wilde’s First Tragedy’, tells the story of the production of ‘Vera; or, The Nihilists’, drawing on new research and never-before-seen documents.

This talk is based on one Dr Marland gave at the Oscar Wilde Society’s annual summer luncheon on 6 June 2026 at St Hilda’s College, Oxford. We are grateful to Rob for his fascinating talk, and for making this video available via our YouTube channel.

Buy ‘Oscar Wilde’s First Tragedy’ here: https://www.robmarland.co.uk/vera