The Picture of Dorian Gray: a 'chameleonic tour de force' from Sarah Snook
Snook mesmerises in Kip Williams's stage adaptation of Wilde classic
Standing ovations are "ten-a-penny" in the theatre these days, said Dominic Cavendish in The Daily Telegraph. "But I've never seen one as swift or unanimous as that which greeted Sarah Snook" at the end of this show. And for once, it "seemed fully justified".
In Kip Williams's stage adaptation of Oscar Wilde's novel, the Australian actress (one of the stars of TV's "Succession") inhabits all 26 characters. Her every move is filmed by an onstage team of camera operators, and we see her in dizzying close-up on an array of screens. She also interacts live with pre-recorded screen versions of herself – as the sinister Lord Henry Wotton, the besotted artist Basil Hallward, the hapless actress Sibyl Vane and so on.
It could all be too tricksy, but the "head-spinning magic is that your disbelief is richly suspended": this is a "chameleonic tour de force" from a performer of "exceptional pluck and mercurial power".
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Wilde’s gothic tale – about a man who retains his "exquisite" looks while his portrait becomes a grotesque record of his descent into gluttony, lechery and worse – has been cleverly repackaged for our own age, said Sarah Hemming in the Financial Times. This sizzling adaptation asks questions about our obsession with self image, and the "slipperiness of self", while playing "intelligently with art and artifice, essence and appearance". Which is the true Dorian? And which is the true Snook? The one on stage, or the one projected on screen?
The technical wizardry serves the drama, rather than distracting from it, said Arifa Akbar in The Guardian. And Snook's performance is "tinglingly virtuoso". "It is all beautiful, brilliant, maniacally unmissable."
Yet if you look at the ticket prices, you'll find you may have to miss it, said Clive Davis in The Times. Seats in the stalls are £250 or more – a lot for a show that is good but a bit thin, more style than substance. With "Plaza Suite" (starring Sarah Jessica Parker) charging similarly crazy prices, it seems a "kind of designer-label madness has taken root" in the West End.
Theatre Royal Haymarket, London SW1 (020 7930 8800, trh.co.uk). Until 11 May
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
5 animated hotels where the wild things very much are
The Week Recommends Elephants and giraffes and penguins, oh my!
By Catherine Garcia, The Week US Published
-
How to make the most of your leftover pumpkins
The Week Recommends As the Halloween fun wraps up, snap up pumpkins still on sale and don't leave your jack-o-lanterns to rot
By Tess Foley-Cox Published
-
Power up with these 5 high-quality travel adapters
The Week Recommends Stay plugged in while on the go. Plus: why you do not need a voltage converter.
By Catherine Garcia, The Week US Published
-
Saint Paul de Vence: a paradise for art lovers
The Week Recommends The hilltop gem in the French Riviera where 20th century modernism flourished
By Alexandra Zagalsky Published
-
Stay sharp with the country's best knife shops
The Week Recommends A dull knife is a kitchen's worst nightmare
By Scott Hocker, The Week US Published
-
Langdale Chase Hotel: a cosy nook in the Lake District
The Week Recommends This Victorian villa has breathtaking views and expansive gardens
By Natasha Langan Published
-
Vanessa Bell: A World of Form and Colour – an 'expansive' exhibition
The Week Recommends The 'sweeping' show features over 140 works from paintings to ceramics
By The Week UK Published
-
Kate Summerscale picks her favourite true crime books
The Week Recommends The writer shares works by Janet Malcolm, Helen Garner and Mark O'Connell
By The Week UK Published