Oscar Wilde’s beloved 1890 novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, is getting another adaption, this latest interpretation setting our doomed hero inside social media and influencer culture.
The iconically queer story follows Dorian, a beautiful young man who sells his soul to the devil for ever-lasting beauty. It’s easy to see how that could transcribe to 2021.
Black Mirror: Bandersnatch star Fionn Whitehead is starring in the project as Dorian with Alfred Enoch, Joanna Lumley, Russell Tovey, Emma McDonald, and Stephen Fry filling out the all-star cast.
The official description reads:
“Each of us has heaven and hell in them. In a profile pic-obsessed, filter-fixated world where online and reality blur, influencer Dorian Gray makes a deal. For his social star never to fade. For the perfect self he broadcasts to the world to always remain. But as his mental health starts to decline, as corruption and murderous depravity start to creep into his world, the true and horrific cost of his deal will soon need to be met.”
Tamara Harvey, the director of this production, is ready to take on the challenge of a digital show in these turbulent times, when many theaters are still closed until further notice. “When trying to tell stories in Covid times, with very few resources and almost no time, the thing you need from your cast more even than talent is a spirit of collaboration, combined with patience, kindness and large doses of humour. Every member of our cast for Dorian Gray brought that and more.”
The digital version of the iconic story is a co-production between Barn Theatre, Lawrence Batley Theatre, New Wolsey Theatre, Oxford Playhouse and Theatr Clwyd in the UK.
Via Pride
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