READING REP THEATRE ANNOUNCE FULL CAST OF DORIAN
A NEW ADAPTATION BY PHOEBE ECLAIR-POWELL AND OWEN HORSLEY
THE FIRST PRODUCTION IN READING’S BRAND-NEW THEATRE
Reading Rep Theatre today announce the full cast of DORIAN, a world première adaptation of The Picture of Dorian Gray written by Bruntwood Prize winner Phoebe Eclair-Powell, and RSC Associate Director Owen Horsley. Owen Horsley directs Andro Cowperthwaite (Dorian), Ché Francis (Henry) and Nat Kennedy (Basil). The production opens on 19 October, with previews from 13 October and runs until 7 November. DORIAN is the first production in the Reading Rep: Reborn season and marks the opening of Reading Rep’s new cultural arts hub following a two-year campaign which raised over £1 million to build the state-of-the-art performance space.
“The books that the world calls immoral are books that show the world its own shame.”
Dorian Gray sells his soul for eternal beauty. Basil and Henry join him for the ride until it all gets a bit much, and the hangovers make way for murder…
DORIAN follows one man’s descent from beautiful debauchery to epic chaos. But who decides when the party is over?
This production will be accompanied by participation project Made in Reading that explores Reading’s LGBTQIA+ history and Wilde’s imprisonment in Reading Gaol.
Phoebe Eclair-Powell is the current winner of the Bruntwood Prize for her play Shed: Exploded View. Her other theatre credits include Wink, Fury, The Picture of Dorian Gray, These Bridges, and the forthcoming Harm and Really Big and Really Loud. For television, her credits include Two Weeks to Live, and for film, the forthcoming Better the Blood.
Owen Horsley’s previous theatre credits include Maydays, Salome, First Encounters: The Famous Victories of Henry (RSC), Antony and Cleopatra, Who’s There: Hamlet, A Memory Play (Classic Stage Company), Dorian Gray (The Watermill Theatre), Henry V (Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Royal Festival Hall), Outside on the Street (Arcola Theatre, Edinburgh Festival Fringe), Lysistrata (Albany Theatre), and The Duchess of Malfi (Southwark Playhouse). As an Associate Director of Cheek by Jowl, his credits include ‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore, Macbeth, Troilus and Cressida, Cymbeline, and The Changeling.
Andro Cowperthwaite plays Dorian. He is an actor and singer/songwriter and trained at Drama Centre London. His theatre credits include The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe (Bridge Theatre), Salome and Dido: Queen of Carthage (RSC) and Corpus Christi (The Space). His film credits include Cold Blow Lane, The Agency and Abstract.
Ché Francis plays Henry. He is a recent LAMDA graduate, and his theatre credits include Curtains Up and The Assassination of Katie Hopkins (Theatr Clywd), The Colours (Soho Theatre), Volpone (Omnibus Theatre) and The Toxic Avenger (Pleasance and Art’s Theatre).
Nat Kennedy plays Basil. They are a recent RADA graduate and queer theatre and filmmaker. They created The Sirrah Sisters, a female and non-binary Shakespeare Theatre Company. Their previous credits include The Maids (Southwark Playhouse), Iphigenia In Aulis (The Cockpit Theatre), A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Twelfth Night (The Sirrah Sisters), and Macbeth, As You Like It and Henvy V (The Show Must Go Online).