Rupert Everett reads The Ballad of Reading Gaol

On Sunday 4 December 2016, Rupert Everett read Oscar Wilde’s final work, The Ballad of Reading Gaol, in the former chapel of Reading Prison, Reading. Oscar Wilde was incarcerated in Reading Prison 1895-97 for ’Acts of Gross Indecency with Other Male Persons.’ In the year of his release, he wrote this final work, which was published the following year in 1898. In September 2016 Artangel opened Reading Prison to the public for the first time for an exhibition of art, writing and performance. Inside: Artists and Writers in Reading Prison. Everett’s reading was on the final day of the exhibition. For more information: