Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough – until 31 May 2019
Reviewed by Sara Garner
3½***
Pictures of Dorian Gray is a 90-minute play about the price we would pay for eternal youth and beauty. This play introduces the audience to the dark and mysterious side of Oscar Wildes work. Wilde explores the idea of sin and redemption in a rambling narrative that also includes his legendary wit and reflection and wonderful language.
Artist Basil Howard (Helen Rebuen) is painting his finest work to date. The subject and now his muse is the beautiful and charming orphan Dorian Gray (Stanton Wright). He believes that Dorian’s exquisiteness is responsible for inspiring his art. It’s through Basil that Dorian meets Lord Henry Wotton (Richard Keightley) and the two become great friends. His pleasure-seeking view of the world enthrals the young beauty, leading him to believe that beauty and pleasure are the only things in life worth pursuing. The seductive power of Lord Henry would corrupt anyone. A series of shocking and supernatural events are set into motion which will destroy Dorian. Howard is left powerless as Dorian slips further into depravity in the fulfillment of pleasure with no thought to how this affects the people around him and he regrets introducing them. Augustina Seymour plays Sibyl Vane who is the 1st victim of Dorian’s thoughtlessness. Rebuen plays the vulnerability and general nature of Howard well as doing Keightly in his portrayal of the gregarious Wotton.
There is little explanation for why the beautiful and charming Dorian suddenly turns into a cold-hearted, immoral cad at what seems to be the drop of a hat. The cross-gender roles were slightly confusing at times. The narrative worked well to evoke emotions however at times this was a little overpowering. The timeline of 18 years of depravity was slightly unclear with the obvious clue of Howard and Wotton utilizing walking sticks.
With no real set changes for any of the scenes, it gets a little static, but changes in lighting work well to convey the right atmosphere.
It has been cleverly adapted by Lucy Shaw and directed by Tom Littler with Set and lighting designed by William Reynolds.
Overall a very powerful and physical adaptation of this famous novel. It still has such resonance with our modern-day lives and the pursuit of perfection via social media. The cast switch roles at different performances, giving the audience a choice of four versions. Will the story feel different with a male or a female Dorian Gray?