Oscar Wilde-themed symposium, theater production, art exhibit coming to NU

April 2 will be a "Wilde" day, so to speak, at Niagara University.

NU's English and theater departments, and the Castellani Art Museum, which is housed on its campus, are presenting "Wilde on the Borders," an aggregation of a lively academic discussion, theater performance and art exhibition in celebration of acclaimed writer Oscar Wilde.

The $60 registration fee for "Wilde on the Borders" includes an academic symposium with scholars from across the country; NU Theatre's inaugural production of the Wilde comedy "Lady Windermere's Fan"; an exhibit tour of "Wilde at the Falls: Touring the Falls with Oscar Wilde" at the Castellani Art Museum; refreshments; lunch and dinner.

Papers submitted for the symposium cover a wide range of topics, including identity formation in a cultural context; Wilde as a personal and social muse; Salome and "the Other" in religious ritual; social class and the gothic novel; morality and the Wilde trials; Wilde and contemporary literary studies.

The "Wilde at the Falls" exhibit pairs notable quotations from Wilde with selections from CAM's own Charles Rand Penney Historical Niagara Falls Print, which will be on view March 27-July 10.

"Lady Windermere's Fan" debuted in 1892 in London's West End. Juxtaposing the comic and the serious, it is actually a thinly veiled attack on the hypocrisy of manners and morals in late Victorian London. NU Theatre's production is onstage March 31-April 4.

Special conference room rates of $119/night (plus taxes and fees) are available at the Sheraton At The Falls by calling 1-866-961-3780. The offer is valid through March 8.

For more information on "Wilde on the Borders," contact Dr. Jamie Carr at 716-286-8544 or [email protected].