Was he a man who defied classification, or an individual who would pigeonhole future homosexuals into labels and constructions? Was he an early role model for the gay movement, or a man who denied his identity? And can art be held to moral standards?

These questions all play a central role in Moisés Kaufman’s Gross Indecency: The Three Trials Of Oscar Wilde now being staged in a fresh production by Theater Alliance at the H Street Playhouse.

The play explores the three court actions which marked the final, disgraced years of poet, playwright and author Oscar Wilde’s (Cooper D’Ambrose) life. It begins with an accusation of libel against Wilde’s accuser Lord Queensberry; the blame then shifts to Wilde himself, whose life and, by extension, art are put on trial for indecency. The work uses a variety of sources, including recollections from attorneys and the memoirs of Wilde’s lover Alfred Douglas, to create as realistic a portrait as possible of what was then the “trial of the century”.