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Sarah Snook in The Picture of
Dorian Gray.
Credit: Marc Brenner |
In a dazzling feat of technology and acting pyrotechnics, Sarah Snook of Succession fame plays 26 characters and brings Oscar Wilde’s 1891 classic of gothic horror The Picture of Dorian Gray to vital life in the 21st Century. Adapter-director Kip Williams employs a small army of black-clad camera operators and a flotilla of flying video screens to create a modern update on this shattering morality tale. Not surprisingly, our era of shallow Instagram posts and click-bait is a perfect fit for Wilde’s story of the titular libertine whose portrait ages while he remains young and beautiful.Williams’ ingenious staging combines live action with multiple video reflections emphasizing Wilde’s theme of deceptive pretty surfaces concealing inner corruption. The intricate video design is by David Bergman. When we first enter the Music Box Theater, we are greeted by a gigantic screen and an empty stage. Snook is first discovered way upstage being filmed. The actual actress is dwarfed by her cinematic reproduction. As she switches roles, she employs simple props like a paintbrush to denote the artist Basil Hallward and a cigarette for the hedonistic Lord Harry Wotton to puff. She is then fitted with a blonde wig in order to become the self-absorbed Dorian Gray and then something miraculous happens. Various versions of Snook as different characters appear on the screens and she interacts with herself, creating the illusion of a stage full of actors. This reinforces the theme of surface versus soul.
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Sarah Snook in The Picture of Dorian Gray.
Credit: Marc Brenner |
As the evening progresses, the screens multiply, flying in and out of the action, creating a ballet of reality conflicting with reproduction. The action sometimes spills backstage and into the bowels of the theater, recreating a low dive. At one point, an entire dinner party is simulated as five Snooks dine with the genuine article (it’s hard to tell which is the real one.) Marg Howell’s sumptuous Victorian-era costumes come in handy here in distinctly differentiating the characters, and a special shout-out to hair and make-up supervisor Nick Eynaud. Snook’s acting is magnificent in conjuring up the spectrum of British society from the upper crust to the lower dregs. She’s especially moving in depicting Dorian’s conflict over his narcissistic indulgence and eventual guilt. She’s also hilariously inept as the actress Sybil Vane, Dorian’s love object, purposefully acting badly as Juliet.
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Sarah Snook in The Picture of Dorian Gray.
Credit: Marc Brenner |
Sybil is one of the few female roles and Snook’s easy leaping back and forth over the gender line emphasizes the queer sensibility of Wilde’s original. Lord Harry is obviously sexually attracted to Dorian and acting on the love that dare not speak its name is most likely among the many “sins” that Dorian commits during his pursuit of pleasure at all costs.
Modern technology is also more directly interjected into this 19th century tale, but the contemporary flourishes do not feel forced. It seems like the most natural thing in the world for Lord Harry and his Billie Burke-like aunt to whip out their I-phones to text their snide witticisms on London society and for the stagehands to inject them with Botox as they sip tea. In one bravura sequence, Snook as Dorian alters his/her appearance through filters on an I-phone which is projected on one of the giant screens. Dorian literally changes before our very eyes. All these clicks and tweaks are executed by Snook while delivering Wilde’s scintillating prose, seemingly without taking a breathe. A mini-tour de force within a larger one.
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Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal
in Othello.
Credit: Julieta Cervantes |
While Sarah Snook is believably performing two dozen characters, Denzel Washington is giving a showy, actor-ly accounting of the title role in Shakespeare’s
Othello at the Barrymore
while his above-the-title co-star Jake Gyllenhaal focuses on the inner workings of Othello’s nemesis Iago and shows us more of the character than the actor. Kenny Leon’s high-profile production is making the headlines because of its exorbitant ticket prices (the top ducat is nearly $1,000). The big query on many theatergoers’ minds is: is the revival really worth that much? That’s an individual question of taste and priority, but my take is this is a decent enough production which grips the audience and imparts the Bard’s intense depiction of jealousy. It’s not spectacular but it’s a satisfying evening.
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Jake Gyllenhaal and Denzel Washington
in Othello.
Credit: Marc Brenner |
Leon’s staging is proficient and properly suspenseful but not revelatory. The setting is “The Near Future” as announced in superimposed letters at the top of the show but there doesn’t seem to be a clear reason for this time trip. The actors speak on cell phones and Dede Ayite’s functional costumes are contemporary, but there is no point made about racism, sexism, or political oppression especially relevant to 2025. The bigoted remarks made by Brabantino, Desdemona’s father, (a solid Daniel Pierce), against the Moor are greeted with groans. But the racial impact of the black Othello’s union with the white Desdemona (Molly Osborne in a credible rendering, eschewing sentiment) is blunted by multi-ethnic casting. (Note: there was one stunning inversion of the racial elements of the play when white Patrick Stewart took on the title role and every other part was played by an African-American in a regional US staging.)
The main attraction and raison d’être of this production is the star casting of the two leads. Washington does acquit himself well, conveying Othello’s open, honest nature and the transition from loving husband to jealousy-obsessed abuser, driven by Iago’s treachery. But all of his histrionic flourishes appear to be just that, actor’s tricks. He doesn’t react in the moment, but begins to display the emotions on cue, working from the outside. His climactic death scene is like a Tony-Award-bait moment, not a natural reaction on Othello’s part to the realization of his self-ruin. It’s telling that at the performance attended, the audience reacted more audibly and viscerally to Iago’s violent murder of his wife Emilia. This is probably because Kimber Elayne Sprawl’s Emilia is so direct and unmannered in her denial of Desdemona’s infidelity in the moments before.
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Molly Osborn and Denzel Washington in
Othello.
Credit: Julieta Cervantes |
Similarly, Jake Gyllenhaal works from the inside out, displays Iago’s twisted psyche without showy effect. Granted, Iago bares his soul to the audience in many soliloquies (it’s the third longest role in all of Shakespeare) and the actor has the advantage of getting to play both the outer honest flower and the serpent beneath. But Gyllenhaal’s unactorly exploration of that interior dominates this production. Andrew Burnap is a likable Cassio, Anthony Michael Lopez a properly gullible Roderigo and Julee Cerda a passionate Bianca. This is a perfectly acceptable
Othello, but not worth mortgaging the family estate to see.
Othello is raking in the cash on Broadway. Meanwhile, lacking movie stars, The Jonathan Larson Project, a charming little revue collecting previously unperformed songs from the late Rent songwriter’s trunk, wasn’t even able eke out its limited engagement at the Off-Broadway Orpheum Theater and will close prematurely. This is a pity because there are several numbers to savor in John Simpkins’ sleek production, illuminated by a kaleidoscope of images provided by video designer Alex Basco Koch. Jennifer Ashley Tepper is credited with conceiving the show, comprising of 18 songs from Larson’s tragically brief career.
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Adam Chanler-Berat, Lauren Marcus,
Taylor Iman Jones, Jason Tam, and
Andy Mientus in
The Jonathan Larson Project.
Credit: Joan Marcus |
Among the highlights are Adam Chanler-Berat’s sharp rending of “Rhapsody,” a monologue in song of a frustrated young composer struggling to find his way in the big city; “The Vision Thing,” a vicious political satire set in the year 2076 from a never produced
National Lampoon revue intended for Broadway (that would have been interesting); Lauren Marcus’ funny “Hosing the Furniture,” a Sondheim-esque portrait of a mad housewife; and “Love Heals,” a beautiful tribute to those lost to AIDS. This last is a loving finale to a sweet paen for a life and talent cut tragically short.
The Picture of Dorian Gray: March 27—June 15. A Sydney Theater Company production at the Music Box Theater, 239 W. 45th St., NYC. Running time: two hours with no intermission. telecharge.com.
Othello: March 23—June 8. Barrymore Theater, 243 W. 47th St., NYC. Running time: two hours and 45 mins. including intermission. telecharge.com
The Jonathan Larson Project: March 10—30. Orpheum Theater, 126 Second Ave., NYC. Running time: 90 mins. with no intermission. ticketmaster.com.
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Lauren Marcus, Andy Mientus, Jason Tam,
Taylor Iman Jones, and Adam Chanler-Berat
in The Jonathan Larson Project.
Credit: Joan Marcus |
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