Belgrade to host Dorian Gray online streaming

Published: 19 January 2021
Reporter: Steve Orme

A world of Instagram, Facebook and dating apps: The Picture of Dorian Gray

Coventry’s Belgrade Theatre is to host a digital streaming of the Oscar Wilde play The Picture of Dorian Gray which will “push the theatrical form, telling this new adaptation through multiple forms such as elements found in radio plays, films, documentaries as well as traditional theatrical techniques”.

The Picture of Dorian Gray will reunite the creative team behind the digital production What a Carve Up!, a murder mystery written by Henry Filloux-Bennett based on Jonathan Coe’s novel and directed by Tamara Harvey. It was produced by Cirencester’s Barn Theatre, Huddersfield’s Lawrence Batley Theatre and Ipswich’s New Wolsey Theatre which have teamed up with the Belgrade, Mold’s Theatr Clwyd and Oxford Playhouse to stage Wilde’s work.

The play features influencer Dorian Gray who makes a deal for his social star never to fade. But his mental health starts to decline and the true, horrific cost will soon have to be met.

The titular role will be played by Fionn Whitehead, best known for his performance as the protagonist Tommy in Christopher Nolan’s Academy Award-nominated film Dunkirk.

Henry Filloux-Bennett and Tamara Harvey said, “so many of us have found ourselves living in an ever-more online world over the past year. But the benefits and the connections digital have offered us come with a darker side—deterioration in mental health, isolation and online manipulation to name just a few.

“After What a Carve Up! we really wanted to explore what would happen if you brought Oscar Wilde’s Faustian tale kicking and screaming into a world of Instagram, Facebook and dating apps.”

The Picture of Dorian Gray will be available to stream from Tuesday 16 until Wednesday 31 March. Tickets are available at The Picture of Dorian Gray web site.

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