Review: A PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY is on at the Masque Theatre

It's so good to be back at the Masque Theatre and see an amateur society show being produced again! This week I went to see a dress rehearsal of A PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY, produced by Cape Town Theatre Company, just before it opened. This is an original adaptation of Oscar Wilde's classic story, which has been written and directed by Liz Roodt.

What was very exciting for me about watching this production was that I got to read an early draft of the script and now that it's up on stage, I get to see how the show has progressed and come alive. It's not an easy thing to go from concept to stage, and I applaud Liz for making it happen. I know this idea has been floating around in her head for many years now, so it's great that it has finally happened.

The cast of A PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY is young and vibrant. There is a lot of talent in that group, and I'm excited to see so many new faces on the Masque's stage. The rehearsal I watched definitely had some bumps in the performances, but I'm sure these will get smoother with the energy of an audience to feed off of. All of the leads do need to be careful of playing scenes on one note, though, and create progression through the scenes.

In Roodt's adaptation, we meet a young, naive Dorian - a music star on the rise - (played by Jan Combrink) and his less-than-scrupulous manager/half-uncle Bernard (played by Brad Howie). The women in Dorian's life - photographer and friend Martine (played by Rio Notra Segal) and backup singer and then girlfriend Piper (played by Klara Robertson) - all warn Dorian that he is being used by Bernard. However, Dorian and Bernard have a long history, with Bernard being a steady father figure in Dorian's life. Things start to go awry after Bernard encourages Dorian to shake off his squeaky-clean image and get more into the sex, drugs and rock n roll way of life. At the same time, Dorian makes a wish that he stays young and that a photo of him that was taken by Martine ages instead. What follows is a path of destruction for poor Dorian and those who love him.

The play is set across some of the best musical decades ever (in my humble opinion) - the 60s, 70s and into the 80s. I enjoyed the music selection, and the addition of actors singing live on stage at points throughout the play certainly adds to the overall impact of the production.

I found the staging of the play to be interesting, but a little bit too complicated. There were too many items that needed to come on and off, and things got a bit messy at times. As mentioned, I was watching a rehearsal, so I'm sure things are a lot smoother now. However, I didn't like how furniture was placed in the way of the curtains closing. This caused unnecessary delays and awkwardness in some places.

Overall, I'd like to applaud Liz Roodt for bringing her vision to life and for working so hard from that first draft to where the play is now. I'd also like to say thank you to Cape Town Theatre Company for always encouraging new works and trying new things.

Photo credit: Martin Kluge

A PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY is on at the Masque Theatre until 29 October and tickets are R120 on Quicket.

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