Rupert Everett to Give Intimate Reading of Oscar Wilde's THE BALLAD OF READING GAOL in Reading Prison

Award-winning actor Rupert Everett will give a reading of Oscar Wilde's final work The Ballad of Reading Gaol from the former prison chapel on Sunday 4 December 2016, the closing day of Inside: Artists and Writers in Reading Prison. The run of the major exhibition by Artangel, which sees Reading Prison open to the public for the first time in its history, was recently extended until Sunday 4 December due to overwhelming public interest.

Rupert Everett is currently shooting The Happy Prince. Set in Europe, the film is about the last years of Oscar Wilde's life in which Everett plays the starring role, directs and also wrote the script for. The film also stars Colin Firth, Emily Watson, Colin Morgan and Tom Wilkinson.

Leading artists, writers and performers have created new work in response to the prison's architecture and history, including exploring the work of the prison's most famous inmate, Oscar Wilde.

Reading Prison, formerly known as Reading Gaol, opened in 1844 and was a working prison until 2013. Oscar Wilde was incarcerated there between 1895 and 1897, enduring the Separate System, a harsh penal regime designed to eliminate any contact between prisoners.

On 24 November County Archivist Mark Stevens gives a lecture on the history of the Prison, from the Georgian period until its first closure in 1920. Stevens will describe the separate system of 'hard labour, hard board and hard fare' that characterised the Victorian regime
Inside has been made possible with the kind support of the Ministry of Justice and is presented as part of Reading 2016, Reading's Year of Culture.

Inside is part of University of Reading's 'Reading International', which is supported using public funding by the National Lottery through the Arts Council's Ambition for Excellence Programme.

Inside is generously supported by Dayana Tamendarova with further support from Jack Kirkland, Matthew Marks Gallery, Sylvie Winckler and those who wish to remain anonymous.

For more information please visit artangel.org.uk/inside.

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