Overview
It was a smash in Australia with Eryn Jean Norvill (Love Me) in the lead. When it made the leap to the UK starring Succession's Sarah Snook, it became the talk of London's West End, and also earned its one and only performer a 2024 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress for her efforts. It's been picked up by Cate Blanchett's (Borderlands) production company Dirty Films to get the film treatment. And, now it's heading to Broadway.
Sydney Theatre Company's version of The Picture of Dorian Gray keeps doing huge things — and its latest jump to the most-famous stage district there is will also keep Snook at its centre. She's making her Broadway debut playing all 26 of the play's parts, with the production hitting New York from March 2025.
When STC's take on The Picture of Dorian Gray premiered in 2020 — and then also played theatres in Melbourne and Adelaide — it didn't just give Oscar Wilde's gothic-literature masterpiece a fresh spin; it turned it into a brand-new stage sensation. Not only does the show feature just one performer playing every single character but, to make that happen, it uses video to help. It's the work of writer/director Kip Williams, it's groundbreaking, and it's been understandably earning audiences raves and winning accolades.
On the page, The Picture of Dorian Gray is exceptional, as well as astute and unnerving, as it follows the selling of its namesake's soul in order to keep indulging every corporeal whim, urge and desire. There's a reason that it just keeps getting adapted for the screen and in theatres, after all. But there's never been a version like Sydney Theatre Company's, which Broadway patrons now get to experience.
"It was a singular privilege to bring The Picture of Dorian Gray to life in London and I am thrilled we will be able to share this astonishing production with audiences in New York," said Sarah Snook about the news.
"From Oscar Wilde's timeless words to the masterful reinterpretation Kip Williams has created, this tale of virtue, corruption, vanity and repercussion is an electrifying journey for me as much as for the audiences, and I am filled with anticipation as we continue on this ambitious creative endeavour."
"I was so humbled by the response from audiences in London to The Picture of Dorian Gray, and I could not be more thrilled to be bringing this work to Broadway. It has been extraordinary to witness the way Oscar Wilde's story continues to resonate with people today," added Williams.
"I am so excited for audiences in New York to experience our show and to see the tour-de-force performance Sarah Snook gives in bringing to life the many characters in this new adaptation of Wilde's remarkable story."
Check out the trailer for the Broadway season of The Picture of Dorian Gray below:
The Picture of Dorian Gray will play Broadway in New York from March 2025 — for more information and to join the waitlist for tickets, head to the play's website.
Images: Marc Brenner.