Susan Granger’s review of “The Picture of Dorian Gray” on Broadway
Sarah Snook is an acting phenomenon – unique in the Broadway theater – delivering a sensational performance, playing all 26 characters in “The Picture of Dorian Gray.”
Based on Oscar Wilde’s gothic horror novel, published in 1891, the satirical story revolves around a vain, selfish, outrageously handsome young man whose exquisite portrait is painted by infatuated artist Basil Hallward.
Through bumbling Basil, Dorian meets aristocratic, amoral Lord Henry Wotton and becomes determined to explore every sensual, hedonistic indulgence.
Realizing his beauty will fade with time, Callow Dorian sells his soul in a Faustian bargain, agreeing that his image in the portrait, rather than himself, will become decayed, disfigured and distorted with age: “The tragedy of old age is not that one is old, but one is young.”
The majority of the adapted plot then delves into Dorian’s libertine lifestyle, yet barely acknowledging the obvious fact that he, Basil and Henry are avowed homosexuals in the Victorian era when that masculine ‘perversion’ was forbidden.
(Many scholars assert that Oscar Wilde chose the protagonist’s name Dorian in reference to the Dorians of ancient Greece, noted for their male same-sex initiation rituals chronicled in Greek cultural history.)
Renowned for her Emmy-winning role as power-hungry Shiv Roy on HBO’s “Succession,” Australian actress Sarah Snook dazzles in Kip Williams’ Sydney Theatre Company’s exhilarating, tech-propelled production, appearing on five huge, high-definition video screens both in simulcast and pre-recorded segments.
Dutifully photographed by black-clad camera-operators, accompanied by dressers and crew, Snook demonstrates astonishing versatility and timing, donning and ripping off different costumes &elaborate wigs/whiskers/moustaches while juggling myriad props. No wonder she won London’s prestigious Olivier Award. She’s gorgeously grotesque!
And a playful puppet-show scene, in which she plays a bizarrely miscast Juliet – while lip-syncing to “Gorgeous” from “The Apple Tree, is hilarious.
Admirable tech credits include scenic/costumer Marg Horwell, lighting designer Nick Schlieper, composer/sound designer Clemence Williams, and videographer David Bergman.
FYI: The M.G.M. 1945 film stars Hurd Hatfield as Dorian Gray with George Sanders as Lord Henry with Angela Lansbury, Donna Reed and Peter Lawford in supporting roles; it’s still available on Max, Apple, and YouTube.
Running a full two hours without an intermission, “The Picture of Dorian Gray” is at Broadway’s Music Box Theatre, currently booking through June 15.