Vera; Or, The Nihilists – Third Thing Productions / The Jack Studio Theatre, London

Oscar Wilde’s rarely-performed first play Vera; Or, the Nihilists receives a sympathetic revival in this production at the Jack Studio Theatre in Brockley.

Oscar Wilde’s First Play

Now here’s a question. If a play by a relatively popular playwright is rarely performed, why is that? Surely some are criminally overlooked. Others might be… how shall we put this? A little lacking in one department or the other? I was thinking about this when the opportunity came up to see Vera; Or, The Nihilists, Oscar Wilde’s first play. Which would it be? It’s not that Wilde himself is out of fashion – the National Theatre’s recent production of The Importance of Being Earnest shows us that. And I’ve seen posters everywhere for a limited run staging of Salomé. So why has this play not reached the same renown?

Shall I tell you a little about the play’s history, before we jump into the production at the Jack Studio Theatre? Good. We start in the 1880s. Russia was quite politically volatile, as Russia is wont to be. A young Oscar Wilde may have taken inspiration from true events, particularly the attempted assassination of Fyodor Trepov, Governor of St Petersburg, by one Vera Zasulich. In any event, he wrote a five act tragedy about revolutionaries in Russia, and the question of whether revolution and violence are inextricably linked. It is also a love story about a prince and a commoner.

Vera; Or, the Nihilists unfortunately didn’t reach a wide audience, then or now. A planned one-off staging in London in 1881 didn’t happen. Then an American actress named Marie Prescott bought the rights (with her husband), their production opening in 1883 at the Union Square Theatre in New York. It closed after a week. Prescott’s choice to try to play a drama as a comedy fell very flat. The critical reception was negative and inspired some very biting quotes, with Punch saying it was “from all accounts, except the Poet’s own, Vera Bad”.

What I read made me even more interested to see Vera. And so off to the Jack Studio Theatre I went.

Vera; Or, the Nihilists

This staging of Vera; Or, the Nihilists, its first London revival, is by Third Thing Productions. Cecilia Thoden van Velzen has adapted/reconceptualised the work, and directs. It more or less retains the structure of a five act play, with voiceovers announcing the acts as they arrive along with a brief description. Seven actors double up to cover multiple roles, aside from Natasha Culzac who takes the eponymous role of Vera.

Thoden van Velzen has presumably cut the play down from the original to fit it into an 85 minute running time. Some of the inherent tensions are still apparent, however. A director’s note in the programme sympathises with Wilde over the failure of the American production, citing Prescott’s confusing interpretation of the play as a comedy. That may be so, but I don’t entirely blame her. Wilde seemingly couldn’t resist a witty turn of phrase, and has littered the play with aphorisms. The formality of the language overall is not a strength, either, with some scenes flowing smoothly and others taking the actors out of their characters as they focus on delivering their lines. This has the effect of making the performances a little uneven, although there are some excellent scenes, particularly those featuring Kat Kim as Prime Minister Maraloffski, and George Airey as Alexis.

The set design similarly contains an inherent tension. Ruth Varela’s modular white screens and simplified props have a clean and modern look which visually separates this from being a straightforward period piece. Moving the screens around between scenes is a slightly fussy process for the actors, however. And although each set up demarcates a different location, it doesn’t quite bring it to life. I did like the earthy palette of Anastasiia Glazova’s costume design against the white set, though, and Varela’s lighting design is very effective.

To Revive, or Not to Revive?

Thinking about Vera on the way home, I remembered Henry VIII, which I saw at the Globe a couple of years ago. It’s not one of the Bard’s frequently performed works, and having seen it I understand why. But I’m still glad I did go and see it. Likewise with Vera; it comes across as the work of a playwright who hasn’t yet found his voice, but it has its merits. And it’s interesting to see Wilde in a different gear than his later comedies of manners, or the aesthetic voluptuousness of Salomé. I’m generally a fan of his work, and have a slightly fuller picture of it thanks to this production.

I would not rush out to see this play again in another production, though. The point about the violence at the heart of revolution is interesting to ponder, but the love story is a little too simple. Perhaps Wilde should have learned the lesson of Napoleon before him: that Russia is not easily conquered. Thankfully in this case, an early defeat was followed up by later triumphs.

I do enjoy rare revivals, and this is a chance to see a play you might not see again. There are some genuinely great sparks here in terms of the acting, design and direction. For those reasons, a visit to the Jack Studio theatre may just be in order.

Salterton Arts Review’s rating: 2.5/5

Vera; Or, the Nihilists on until 27 September 2025. More info and tickets here.