The smash-hit production of The Picture of Dorian Gray will make its UK premiere in January at The Theatre Royal Haymarket, starring the critically acclaimed Sarah Snook in a ground-breaking adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s only novel.
This stunning modern reworking of Wilde’s devastatingly brilliant story is adapted and directed by Sydney Theatre Company’s Artistic Director Kip Williams
The Picture of Dorian Gray will begin performances on Tuesday 23 January 2024, with a Press Night on Wednesday 31 January 2024.
The Picture of Dorian Gray goes on sale today, Thursday 22 June, with tickets available at www.doriangrayplay.com
Wilde’s timeless text is revolutionised by William’s celebrated collision of form employing an explosive interplay of video and theatre through an intricately choreographed collection of on-stage cameras bringing to life a dizzying 26 characters, each brought to life by Snook.
Marking her hotly anticipated return to the London stage following her searing debut in Matthew Warchus’ 2016 production of The Master Builder opposite Ralph Fiennes, Australian star Sarah Snook will play every character in the production.
Snook was most recently seen as Shiv Roy in HBO’s hit series Succession, a role that earned her global acclaim. Over Succession’s four seasons she received a Golden Globe Award and a Critics Choice Award and was nominated for two Primetime Emmy Awards and a Screen Actors Guild Award. In Australia, Snook has won two Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards for her work in film and television. She received a nomination for the Logie Award for most outstanding actress for her performance in 2015’s The Beautiful and a Helpmann Award nomination for best female actor in a play for her performance in Sydney Theatre Company’s production of Saint Joan.
“I am elated to return to the London stage in such an astonishing piece of theatre,” Snook said. “From Oscar Wilde’s remarkable original text to Kip Williams’ stunning adaptation, this story of morality, innocence, narcissism, and consequence is going to be thrilling to recreate for a new audience. I can’t wait.”
Williams’ interpretation of beauty, excess, and a deal with the devil holds striking resonance in our current era, holding a mirror to 21st century society’s narcissistic obsession with youth.
Enrapturing audiences, the acclaimed Australian premiere season in 2020 was extended twice in Sydney and played to critical and audience acclaim throughout the country.
Director and Adapter, Kip Williams said “In creating a new piece of theatre like The Picture of Dorian Gray you always hope to have the opportunity to share it with a wider audience. I am so excited for theatre lovers in London to experience our show and am thrilled to have the extraordinary Sarah Snook bringing to life the many characters of Oscar Wilde’s remarkable story.”
“I knew, from the very first time I saw The Picture of Dorian Gray, that it deserved a global audience,” Michael Cassel, producer of the West End season, said. “Kip Williams’ genius production is transformative, innovative, transfixing and entertaining and I am beyond excited that the inimitable Sarah Snook will star in this incredible production.”
Co-producer Adam Kenwright said, “This thrilling new look at one of Oscar Wilde’s most seminal works is a benchmark work of modern theatre and I am delighted to be joining my good friend Michael Cassel and team bringing it to London. A huge degree of thanks must go to Theatre Royal Haymarket’s Len Blavatnik and Danny Cohen. We are enlivened by their vision and their partnership in bringing The Picture of Dorian Gray to London.”
Sydney Theatre Company’s The Picture of Dorian Gray is adapted and directed by Kip Williams, based on the novel by Oscar Wilde. The Picture of Dorian Gray stars Sarah Snook. Design is by Marg Horwell, Lighting Design by Nick Schlieper, Composition & Sound Design by Clemence Williams, and Video Design by David Bergman. The London season is produced by Michael Cassel, Adam Kenwright, Len Blavatnik and Danny Cohen, Daryl Roth, Amanda Lipitz and Henry Tisch, Jonathan Church.
