Dorian Gray

I have decided that my first action, as master of this corner of the internet, will be to recycle some old copy - I'm going to post a series of old reviews, most of which were published by my university's magazine. I doubt they will object, but if there are any issues of copyright, then you presumably know who I am and can contact me.

First up is a review of a theatre production of Dorian Gray:

A Picture of Dorian Gray; Leicester Square Theatre; 31/01/09

All red velvet and decadent cabaret, this is certainly a stylish production. Linnie Reedman’s production skims unevenly through the well known gothic fable, but nonetheless displays some highlights. Joe Evans’ gorgeously arranged musical accompaniment conjures Victorian alleys and Wildean emotions with not a little skill. Robert Donnelly is impressive as thwarted Romantic, Basil. The waistcoats are wonderful.

Unfortunately, this is not sufficient to justify the production. Amateurish touches let the play down: an absurd Halloween mask signifies the corrupted portrait. For a play in which the power of the debauchery is that it is all imagined, this is a laughable miscalculation. Screams, devilish lighting and Victorian caricature too often tip the piece into melodrama, obscuring any genuine examination of the major moral questions of the novel. To briefly parrot a Socratic dialogue is no replacement.

Lord Henry (Vincent Manna) and Dorian (Mostyn James), though fairly well drawn, lack the intensity to hold the audience’s attention. Manna is not aided by a script which allows for no character development whatsoever, while James has the opposite problem. Where Wilde gives a chapter of internal monologue, he must here communicate Gray’s reformation in just a few lines.
In such a small theatre (and with rattling fridges at the bar and pillars obscuring the view, it is not a kindly space), intensity is all. Without it, the audience notices every extraneous sound and fidget. Ruby in the Dust, the troupe behind the production, would do well to observe some of the work at the Arcola Theatre, where small spaces and quirky productions are carried off with more verve. That said, there are just about sufficient highlights to make this an entertaining, atmospheric melodrama.