Darlington Hippodrome – until 30 March 2019
3***
Tilted Wig Productions bring Oscar Wilde’s most notorious works to Darlington this week. When originally written, the book shocked with its hedonistic and homoerotic themes. The scandal of which sent the author to jail.
In parts this is more 50 Shades, especially with one scene in the second act, when Dorian (Gavin Fowler) and Henry (Jonathan Wrather) party in a self gratifying, decadent manner.
We start the tale with Dorian being painted by Basil Hallward (Daniel Goode), Basil is in love with Dorian, he feels he can only paint when young Dorian is with him and then he produces his best work. At a sitting, Henry meets Dorian and begins to lead him astray.
Dorian meets actress Sybil Vane (Kate Dobson) and falls in love with her, asking her to marry him after watching her perform for a few weeks. She calls him Prince Charming and agrees to marry him. Sybil loses her ability to act the more she falls in love and Dorian only wants the perfect actress and breaks the engagement. Heartbroken Sybil kills herself. The shock of her death sends Dorian further into the underworld of indulgence, immorality and depravity.
Whilst Wilde’s story has the premise that Gray’s portrait ages and shows his rotten and twisted soul whilst Gray himself stay eternally young. In this version we never see a painting, instead it’s glass in a frame which starts off clear but ages and dulls with scratches and breaks as the play progresses.
With more than one suicide, seduction and murder this is a still quite a moralistic play even with today’s liberal attitudes.
In Darlington until Saturday and on tour around the UK, this is definitely one to see if you are a fan of Wilde