REVIEW: The Picture Of Dorian Gray - Waterside Theatre, Sale.

The Picture of Dorian Gray. Adapted and presented by Box Tale Soup from the original story by Oscar Wilde. The Chambers, Sale Waterside Arts Centre.

I am a big fan of Oscar Wilde and this tale is one of my favourites so I was keen to see it. From the beginning, it was clear that this production was going to be "different". A bare stage other than a series of picture frames; hanging on the frames were a series of puppets with caricatured human faces and an empty picture frame in the middle. There was also a large trunk and a small period style treasure chest.

The three performers entered into the space to rather unusual music, which I found somewhat jarring. This is part of an original score especially written for this version but I didn't think it was at all appropriate for the era. The cast consisted of a female Dorian Gray (Antonia Christophers) and two identically dressed men (Noel Byrne and Mark Collier). As the play went on, it became clear that the two men would have multiple roles; initially they were the painter Basil Hallward (Collier) and the aristocrat Lord Henry Wotton (Byrne). There was a good effort made to have costumes of the period (the men wore frock coats, for example).

Gray placed herself in the empty picture frame and came alive during the first scene whilst Hallward and Wotton waxed lyrical about the painting. The scene started with the first of a number of choreographed sequences - in this case, a dance in close hold - which was presumably to illustrate their strong friendship and possibly alluding to their homosexuality. Wilde himself said there were aspects of his own character in the three main protagonists. Eventually Gray joined them and posed as Hallward continued to work on the painting.

This was performed as a single act play with no interval and it lasted about 75 minutes. The pace was good, in fact, it rattled along!

Costume changes for the men, all done on stage, were quick and it was clear to the audience before the actors spoke that they were now someone else. Like a lot of adaptations of classic tales, the two men were the 'players' working alongside the central character. This included them controlling the puppets (with a good variety of voices and accents) which acted as the play's other roles. One of these was the actress Sybil Vane whom Gray falls in love with then discards, leading to Vane committing suicide. There was a very clever use of a red scarf to represent the spilling of blood. Although the puppets were cleverly woven into the tale, I didn't like the idea and unfortunately I got reminded of “Avenue Q” (albeit with no swearing!) whenever the puppets appeared.

The ageing of the portrait was illustrated by a series of tableaux where Christophers adopted ever more gruesome or hideous features. However, I do think that if you didn't know the story beforehand, you might have struggled to comprehend what was actually going on. In one of the key elements of the tale, Gray kills Hallward in a fit of pique after the artist discovers what is happening to the portrait. I just felt that there was a missed opportunity to more clearly explain what happens to the tortured scientist whom Gray persuades to dispose of the body.

The three actors made a very good team and worked well together. More information about the play, where else it's being presented and the company as a whole can be found on their website (www.boxtalesoup.co.uk).

Reviewer - David Swift
on - 6/11/18