Picture of Dorian Gray, The (Williams)
- Full Length Play, Drama, Adaptations (Literature), Victorian (British and American), 19th Century
- 1M or F
- ISBN: 9780573000461
This groundbreaking adaptation by Kip Williams delivers an explosive interplay of theatrical forms that bring Oscar Wilde’s prophetic fable crashing into the present.
Description
- Full Length Play
- Drama, Adaptations (Literature)
- 120 minutes
- Time Period: Victorian (British and American), 19th Century
- Target Audience: Adult
- Performance Group:
- College Theatre / Student, Community Theatre, Blackbox / Second Stage /Fringe Groups, Professional Theatre
- Accolades:
- Winner! Two Olivier Awards (2024)
Seeing himself in a dazzling new portrait, an exquisite young man makes a Faustian wish for eternal youth. Dorian Gray throws himself into a life of wanton luxury, drifting from the pampered salons of Victorian London to the darkest recesses of the capital, revelling in the splendour of his beauty, which remains forever golden. Meanwhile, the portrait – banished to an attic – becomes more and more grotesque.
Building on a career-long fascination with theatrical innovation and spectacular reinventions of classic stories (Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Suddenly Last Summer and The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui), STC Artistic Director Kip Williams has written an adaption of Wilde’s century-old fable of beauty and a deal with the devil that is a magnificent mirror to our times. Earning a wave of five-star reviews, this vibrantly contemporary adaptation of The Picture of Dorian Gray is a “dazzling masterpiece no one should miss” (The Age).
REVIEWS:
"An astonishing piece of theatre."
Financial Times
"An extraordinary event."
Evening Standard
"[A] dizzyingly beautiful tour de force."
The Guardian
"Nothing short of extraordinary."
The Reviews Hub
"Fascinating – and wildly entertaining."
The Stage
"Williams cleverly plays on this contemporaneity, creating a phantasmagorical sequence of effects that are both pitched in the past and yet perfectly conjure the dominance of self and appearance in modern culture."
WhatsOnStage
This adaptation of The Picture of Dorian Gray was first produced by Sydney Theatre Company and premiered at Roslyn Packer Theatre on 28 November 2020. The play transferred to the West End and was produced by the Michael Casssel Group and Kindred Partners with the Sydney Theatre Company at Theatre Royal Haymarket, in London, UK on 6 February 2024.
Characters
- Casting: 1M or F
- Casting Attributes: Strong Role for Leading Woman (Star Vehicle), Strong Role for Leading Man (Star Vehicle)
This play is written for one performer. In it they play all characters, including the Narrator. Dialogue from other characters within the Narrator’s lines should be played in the voice of those characters. The performer is live throughout the entire performance, and will at times play in scenes opposite themselves. This is achieved by intersplicing their live performance with prerecorded performances displayed on screens. No other actors are used; every character is performed by the sole performer. In a handful of instances early on in the play, we hear some characters as a voice-over, again, voiced by the same performer. Lines that are performed by prerecorded characters are indicated as such. Lines performed as prerecorded voice-over are indicated as such. Shared lines are indicated as such.
Available Material
| Name | Price |
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Picture of Dorian Gray, The (Williams) Script
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"I am tired of myself tonight. I should like to be somebody else.” |
$24.95 |
