How to turn the story of playwright and poet Oscar Wilde, famed for his wit and wordplay, into classical dance?
With the Australian Ballet's world-premiere of Oscar, acclaimed choreographer Christopher Wheeldon not only takes on this challenge, he's also created a queer classical ballet.
There are vanishingly few of these - British choreographer Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake is one exception - because the majority of the repertoire was created at a time when homosexuality was unacceptable.
In 1895, during his trial for gross indecency, Wilde famously described his attraction to men as "the love that dare not speak its name".
It has been much the same for classical ballet. The pas de deux should be between a man and a woman, thank you very much.
Wheeldon weaves the life of Oscar Wilde into two of his stories - the fairytale The Nightingale and the Rose, followed by Wilde's only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray - to bring queer love to the stage.
Yet Wilde was a complex figure. As well as numerous gay affairs, he was also a devoted husband and father.
The production opens on Friday and will be the Australian Ballet's first show at Melbourne's Regent Theatre.
Wilde features an entirely new score by British composer Joby Talbot, with set and costume design by Jean-Marc Puissant.
Oscar is Wheeldon's third full-length collaboration with the national company, after Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and An American in Paris.
Oscar is at the Regent Theatre until September 24.
