The Picture of Dorian Gray, an online production

Theatrical adaptations of Oscar Wilde’s once controversial novel The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890) are a regular fixture of the London stage. But the story’s narcissistic, beauty-obsessed protagonist – who arranges for his portrait to age and bear the marks of his sins while he remains perennially young and handsome – holds an unexpected relatability in a year that’s seen many of us bemoan the lack of hedonism in our lockdown lives, while our bodies have quietly continued their natural aging process. ‘Can’t we write off this year, and remain the age we were when lockdown began?,’ we’ve cried.

The Picture of Dorian Gray press shot

Propelling the story of Dorian Gray into the present day world of Instagram posts, flattering filters, dating apps and a mental health crisis, is a new digital production led by a six-strong starry cast. Fionn Whitehead (Dunkirk) is taking on the titular role, with Alfred Enoch (Harry Potter, Red) playing the aristocrat Harry Wotton, Russell Tovey (Being Human) the artist Basil Hallward and Emma McDonald (The Sweet Science of Bruising) the actress Sibyl Vane, with whom Gray engineers a brief relationship. National treasures Joanna Lumley and Stephen Fry complete the cast, as Lady Narborough and the Interviewer respectively.

The production comes from the creative team behind 2020’s critically acclaimed online production of What a Carve Up!, with writer Henry Filloux-Bennett (Nigel Slater’s Toast) and director Tamara Harvey (Home, I'm Darling) at the helm. It promises to fuse elements of radio plays, films and documentaries with more traditional theatrical techniques to bring the story to life.

Cast members left to right: Alfred Enoch, Russell Tovey and Emma McDonald

As with What a Carve Up!, The Picture of Dorian Gray has been devised as a multi-venue collaboration, this time between The Barn Theatre in Cirencester, the Lawrence Batley Theatre in Huddersfield, the New Wolsey Theatre in Ipswich, Oxford Playhouse and Theatr Clwyd in Mold. And it's good news for schools: the innovative, cross-venue team has an eye out for younger audiences, with education packs available as further reading for those studying the play as part of a curriculum.

Lockdown is gradually lifting, and while we'll emerge a good year-and-a-bit older than we were when the pandemic began, thanks to productions like this one, we'll be that bit more savvy about the potential for digital culture too.

The Picture of Dorian Gray is available to stream online from 16 - 31 March. Tickets cost £12 and include a digital programme as well as streaming access for 48 hours. Click here to book.