 The Marquess of Queensberry , the father of Wilde 's lover Lord Alfred Douglas ( who was on holiday in Algiers at the time ) , had planned to disrupt the play by throwing a bouquet of rotten vegetables at the playwright when he took his bow at the end of the show . Wilde and Alexander learned of the plan , and the latter cancelled Queensberry 's ticket and arranged for policemen to bar his entrance . Nevertheless , he continued harassing Wilde , who eventually launched a private prosecution against the peer for criminal libel , triggering a series of trials ending in Wilde 's imprisonment for gross indecency . Alexander tried , unsuccessfully , to save the production by removing Wilde 's name from the billing , but the play had to close after only 86 performances . 
