Review: The Picture [Of Dorian Gray]

“The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it.

Resist it, and your soul grows sick with longing for the things it has forbidden to itself.”

We double-dated it last night to see one of the highlights of The Dublin Gay Theater Festival this year is The Picture (of Dorian Gray) showing that The New Theater.

I’ve read the book. In fact, I’ve read the book so often I can almost quote it verbatim but until last night I had never seen Wilde’s 1891 masterpiece (in my opinion) applied to the stage. We took our seats in a small, cosy little theater and I critically eyed the sparsity of the stage.

Where was the decadence? The lavish settings I had composed from the pages? Three chairs and some tin-foil? Surely we had stumbled off the cobbles into the wrong venue. I decided there any then that it just wasn’t going to work.

The play began taking the form of a meta-play with a cast of three, alternating between the here, there and in-between. I received a few worried glances and hand squeezes when Britney and Kevin appeared in Chapter 4, or was if 5 and some looks of exasperated disdain when I annoyingly pointed out at various intervals that they were misquoting or misassigning scenes.

However, as the play progressed, I set my snobbery and prejudgment aside and fell into the stride of the piece, realising what the Company was trying to do. It wasn’t The Picture of Dorian Gray, it was a reflection of the play in a modern context. Taking the pomp of the 1890′s into the 21st century and exploring nature of vanity and ego and the futility of gender and sexual stereo-typing.

They employed a technique of swapping characters through the use of colour coded glasses, a mechanism which bettered as the play progressed, picking up speed and force as it neared conclusion and ultimately made for a very clever story telling device. [I do wonder though how those who don't know the characters dealt with identifying the rapid character changes. ]

It’s a very physically demanding play and one scene in particular preformed by Hanna Dillon (strongest of the three with an stunningly engaging face) in which she played all of 4 characters at once was exhausting even to watch. Over all the play was an enjoyable and innovative production and I’d definitely recommend giving it a go.

The Picture (of Dorian Gray) is showing at The New Theatre - 43 East Essex Street, Dublin 2 from 12th - 16th May as part of DGTF.

Presented by: Independent Theatre Ensemble Indiana USA.

Tickets €10-€15.