‘Wilde,’ a biographical sketch of embattled playwright

Never match wits with a master. That is to say, when reviewing a genius wit like Oscar Wilde (and who is there like him?), don’t try to be witty yourself. You can’t measure up.

So what to say about “In the Company of Oscar Wilde”? Insofar as it channels Wilde’s wit, insight, passion and despair, it is pretty much beyond any critical tools I can wield. In a potpourri of aphorisms, excerpts from poems and plays and, to conclude, an eloquent and deeply painful excerpt from his final, bleak view of his own life, “De Profundis,” it gives us a Wilde both sprightly and somber, with the ultimate emphasis on the latter.

The power of “De Profundis” and even the better known, also bitter “Ballad of Reading Gaol,” are doubtless due to their relative unfamiliarity. That’s the reverse of the early part of the program, which jumps around from bits of the plays to sprinkles of wit, pausing mainly for a big, tasty hunk of “The Importance of Being Earnest,” which some of us can probably recite almost by heart.

All this is padded with commentary about Wilde’s life and career, so that the whole 90 minutes forms a sort of biographical sketch. Wilde may be beyond criticism, but the creator/adapter of the program, Alan Stanford, spends more time than necessary on the funny stuff before getting to what most interests him — and certainly me — the tragedy of Wilde’s last five years.

In the intimate, handsome auditorium at the Frick Museum in Point Breeze, Mr. Stanford himself reads Wilde’s words at a podium. On a small stage with just a couple of armchairs, a company of four in evening dress — Martin Giles, James FitzGerald, Karen Baum and Marsha Mayhak — recite, narrate and read the various pieces of Wilde’s life and works.

Joining them for the delicious “Earnest” excepts is Ingrid Sonnichsen, who plays that comic dragon Lady Bracknell as a complete battle-ax, with the other four supporting her as the two pairs of young lovers.

Generally, from the start, Mr. Stanford has given Wilde the more somber, serious viewpoints on life, leaving the wit to the others. But eventually, both Wilde and Mr. Stanford rise to impressive power in the dark, naked passages of “De Profundis.”

The evening ends with a prose poem, “The Doer of Good,” which tracks Jesus through encounters with several of those he had famously cured. When he meets the last, he asks, “Why are you weeping?” and Lazarus replies, “I was dead once and you raised me from the dead. What else should I do but weep?”