The musical takes place in Dublin in 1964. Alfie Byrne, a middle-aged bachelor living a quiet life with his spinster sister, works as a bus conductor by day and by night as a amateur theatre impresario dedicated to the plays of his hero, Oscar Wilde.

A modest man, a quiet man, Alfie has always found his greatest satisfaction as the artistic director of his theatrical group housed in the local church. When Alfie declares that, instead of their usual production of The Importance of Being Earnest, the troupe will next present Wilde’s provocative Salome, the church authorities balk at the play’s “immodest dancing” and his safe little world begins to crumble. 

After years of hiding, Alfie finally realises he must take his place in the world. As Wilde declared, “The only way to get rid of temptation is to yield to it.”

First performed Off Broadway in 2002.