Missed out on the Sydney Theatre Company’s critically acclaimed adaptation of The Picture of Dorian Gray earlier this year? You’re in luck. Following sold-out seasons in Sydney, Melbourne and at Adelaide Festival, STC is bringing the show back to the Roslyn Packer Theatre for a limited season.
Actress Eryn Jean Norvill reprises her acclaimed performance as all 26 characters in this thrillingly ambitious production of the Oscar Wilde classic, adapted and directed by STC Artistic Director Kip Williams. This will be one of the hottest tickets in town, and the perfect Christmas gift for that special someone who previously missed out on this “once-in-a-lifetime event” (Arts Hub).
Time Out described Norvill’s as “one of the greatest performances ever seen on an Australian stage”. By employing multiple live cameras and pre-recorded video, the production allows Norvill (who has also starred in Suddenly Last Summer and Romeo and Juliet) to create an audacious cascade of theatrical transformations. Since its premiere in 2020, the show has garnered five-star reviews and been greeted by rapturous audiences.
Williams said he was delighted to be bringing The Picture of Dorian Gray back to Sydney before taking it to the Auckland Festival in March. He praised the epic collaborative efforts of Norvill and the creative and technical team who have brought his ambitious vision to life.
“We’re thrilled that Melbourne and Adelaide responded so enthusiastically to the show earlier this year, and we’re beyond excited to bring this production to even more audiences in Sydney and New Zealand next year,” he said.
“I am immensely proud of this production and in awe of Eryn Jean’s spectacular performance and the extraordinary work of our team of remarkable artists and technicians. We have brought new life to this classic work that’s an exploration of narcissism and the cult of the individual is just as relevant, hilarious and insightful today as it was upon its initial release in 1890.”
Building on a career-long fascination with theatrical innovation and spectacular reinventions of classic stories (Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Suddenly Last Summer and The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui), Williams’ adaption of Wilde’s century-old fable is more relevant than ever, holding a clear mirror to our times.
Williams and Norvill have a long history of successful collaborations. He first directed her in Romeo & Juliet, which was also his first play as STC Resident Director in 2013. Since then, they have worked together on many more productions including Cyrano de Bergerac (2014), Suddenly Last Summer (2015), All My Sons (2016) and Three Sisters (2017). In 2019 Norvill was dramaturg on Williams’ production of Lord of the Flies.
- When: February 3 – 18th, 2023
- Where: Roslyn Packer Theatre
- Purchase tickets here.
Main photo credit: Daniel Boud