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THE CANTERVILLE GHOST was written by Oscar Wilde, the master of the polished surface which hides a complex truth. Is THE CANTERVILLE GHOST a children´s story, a moral parable, a satire on the English and Americans, a parody of "Gothic" fiction or even a complex exploration of adolescence? The story is probably all of these, and we have chosen not to simplify the tale by dramatisation. oscar Wilde lived a double life: as an irishman among the English, as rebel among the established order and as a homosexual in an intolerant heterosexual society. And Wilde lived this double life at the centre of Society´s eye. He survived by his brilliance and wit, he dared the established order to judge him and not content with dominating the London theatre, he turned his life into theatre.Sadly, he began to beleive in his own role and chose to defend his respectable public imagie in court, even though he knew it was a lie. When the lie was exposed, the performance was over and prison and early death was Wilde´s reward.

THE CANTERVILLE GHOST was written just four years before the court case which ruined him. It was published simply as a "story", with no hint as to its intended readership´s age. We do know it was written at the same time as the dark THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY. The British aristocracy are portrayed as foolish and murderous, the Americans as brash and insensitive. Wile´s sympathy is reserved for thr young American, Virginia, who he takes on a curious voyage of adolescent discovery. We have chosen to concentrate on this voyage and to heighten the role of the Duke who she eventually marries. This sems to be Wilde´s most serious theme and anyone who reads or interprets the story must come to terms with the final paragraph:

"You have a secret," the Duke answered, smiling. "You have never told me what happened to you when you were locked away with the ghost."

"I have never told anyone, Cecil," said Virginia gravely.

"I know but you might tell me."

"Please don´t ask me....."

"You can have your secret as long as I have your heart," he murmured.

"You will always have that, Cecil."

"And you will tell our children some day, won´t you?"

Virginia blushed.

To dramatise the story is to deal with the Duke´s question to his wife: what happened to Virginia when she is locked away with the ghost? This is rather rough and ambiguous finale to a fairy tale and it reflects on Wilde´s own tortured desire to tell the truth despite his dazzling skill at hiding that truth. The charming fairy story comes to an abrupt halt, there is no moral judgement because although the story ends with a blush we do not feel it is a blush of shame. Virginia is clearly wiser and more knowing than the Duke, and she gains that knowledge from her encounter with the ghost. Wilde leaves the reader with an enigma but he was playing a dangerous game; his hidden themes, like his hidden life, would be revealed.. Unlike DORIAN GRAY, Oscar Wilde was not able to keep his true self on a canvass in an attic.

Despite its contradictions and evasions, THE CANTERVILLE GHOST is still a fairy story, which is not the same thing as a children´s tale. It is a mark of Wilde´s skill that he is able to write a modern fairy story that is as macabre and complex as anything by the brothers Grimm or Hans Anderson. We have tried to do justice to his skill and bring the story´s themes alive for a contemporary audience. Because the story is also a satire we have updated the satire, and where we have taken liberties with the plot or text we have tried to do so in the spirit of Oscar Wilde.

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