VERA OR THE NIHILISTS

Set against the backdrop of widespread social and political unrest in turn-of-the-century Tsarist Russia, Oscar Wilde’s little-known first play is a gripping and provocative story of idealism, conspiracy, and corruption.

As social unrest sweeps across Russia, a young woman by the name of Vera Sabouroff travels to Moscow to avenge her brother’s unjust imprisonment. Driven initially by a desire for vengeance, Vera becomes embroiled with a secretive faction of social radicals known as the Nihilists and rapidly becomes their most proficient assassin. United only by their rejection of societal norms and their desire to spark a nationwide revolution, the group hatch a daring plot – to murder the Czar and free their nation from the grip of tyranny. But when her ideals are brought into conflict with her heart, Vera finds herself doubting the cause for which she has risked everything.

Oscar Wilde wrote Vera; or, The Nihilists, a drama about Russian revolutionaries, a decade before he made his name with his first society comedy, Lady Windermere’s Fan. A planned one-off performance in London in 1881 was cancelled, possibly due to the play’s controversial politics, and the New York premiere was a flop: Wilde described it as the “sharpest agony” of his life. This production is its first-ever London revival.