Following a sell-out West End run, European Arts Company take to the Harrow Arts Centre stage with their brilliant, critically acclaimed dramatisation of the libel and criminal trials of Oscar Wilde.

The show, written by his grandson Merlin Holland who will also present a rare pre-show talk, will take place on Wednesday, April 24.

Thursday, February 14, 1895 was the triumphant opening night of The Importance of Being Earnest and the zenith of Wilde’s career. Less than 100 days later, he found himself a common prisoner sentenced to two years hard labour. So what happened during the trials and what did Wilde say? Using the actual words spoken in court, the audience can feel what it was like to be in the company of a flawed genius who is suddenly reduced to a man of no importance.

Merlin Holland, Oscar Wilde’s only grandson, the play’s co-author and champion of his work, will be making a rare appearance in an informal pre-show talk, starting at 7pm, where he questions whether it was Wilde’s homosexuality alone which brought him down. From the storm of protest engendered by the publication of The Picture of Dorian Gray to the banning of Salomé from the stage, he suggests that the motives for destroying Wilde were far more complicated.

Harrow Arts Centre, 171 Uxbridge Road, Hatch End, HA5 4EA, Wednesday, April 24, 7.30pm. Details: 020 3773 7161 harrowarts.com