Well! UW’s Undergraduate Theatre Society brings life to Neil Bartlett’s cunning–if a bit dry–adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s beloved novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray. With strong directing and gender-blind casting, this is a production that, while short of perfection, is well worth experiencing.
While the cast is hit-or-miss–allowances must be made, for these are students, after all–the actors’ strengths and weaknesses match those of their characters wonderfully. Sarah Priddy’s Lady Harriett Wotton (a seamless, delightful, and compelling gender-swap from Wilde’s Lord Henry) is breath-taking in her unflappably cruel and jocular aestheticism. Basil Hallward, awkward and unsure of himself as he is, comes realistically to life in the form of Jake Lemberg, whose hesitant and uncomfortable stylings are just too perfect. Holly Griffith, who plays the show’s namesake, in many ways allows the audience to see a side of Gray that the other characters don’t. She brings a curious petulance to the character which is very unlike the gracious and charming Gray of the novel, but somehow believable, comprehensible, and almost–almost–likeable. The chorus was largely dynamic and committed, and among them was Hal Schrieve, whose portrayal of a servant and, it seemed to me, a kind of Oscar Wilde stand-in narrator, was eerily provocative and very enjoyable.
As the play opened, I whispered a silent ‘Thank you’ to the actors for largely not attempting English dialects. Vaguely upper-class suits this production just fine.
The strength of the production lies primarily in the direction (Rachel Perlot). With a script that leaves the narrative just a little contrived, just a bit lacking juice, just slightly wanting in the prosaic beauty of Wilde’s own narrative, Perlot creates a drama that unfolds gracefully, with surprises hidden around corners even for those already familiar with the story. The stage lies in the middle of four sets of seating on each side, like a stadium ring, and each of the four corners are used as entrances and exits by the actors, and there is a sense both of surrounding the action, and being ourselves surrounded by it. Perlot makes elegant use of this situation to create both uncomfortably intimate spaces, in which the audience is left to feel as if we were eavesdropping, and also wild, almost orgiastic spaces in which the audience is made to give in to fear and passion.
Neil Bartlett’s adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray will play at UW’s Hutchinson Hall in the Cabaret Theatre from December 3-7 at 7:30pm. For tickets, please visit uwuts.org