DORIAN

By Phoebe Eclair-Powell and Owen Horsley

March 28 – April 13, 2025

A North American Premiere Production.
Adapted from The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde.

Directed by Mason Beggs.

One man’s descent from glorious debauchery to epic self-destruction. 

Dip into the seductive world of Dorian, a mesmerizing new adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s timeless tale, crafted by Phoebe Eclair-Powell and Owen Horsley. Join us for the North American Premiere of an unforgettable journey through the depths of hedonism, narcissism, and eternal beauty, where one man’s descent into darkness becomes a gripping exploration of morality and self-destruction.

This thrilling stage adaptation delves into Wilde’s own life story, intertwining it with the haunting narrative of Dorian Gray’s tragic downfall. Premiering to critical acclaim at Reading Rep Theatre, this production promises to captivate audiences with its daring blend of glamor, grotesque, and unabashed originality.

Experience the pulse-pounding excitement of “The Picture of Dorian Gray,” hailed by The Guardian as “eye-poppingly experimental” and celebrated by The Stage as a “radical adaptation” reaffirming the piece’s significance as a touchstone of queer art. With sizzling homoerotic fervor and deliciously camp allure, this is a theatrical event not to be missed. Expect to be dazzled, enthralled, and utterly captivated by the electrifying spectacle that awaits.

Additional Programming:

Open Rehearsal (for Subscribers Only): Wednesday, March 19, 2025, at 6:30pm

Community Matinee Preview ($12/Ticket):  Thursday, March 27, 2025  – *Currently SOLD OUT! Contact the Box Office to be added to the waitlist!

Opening Night with Reception: Friday, March 28, 2025 at 7:30pm

Pay-What-You-Will Performances*: 
Saturday, March 29, 2025 at 2:00pm
Saturday, March 29, 2025 at 7:30pm
Saturday, April 5, 2025 at 7:30pm
Saturday, April 12, 2025 at 7:30pm
(*Purchase in-person at the Box Office on the day of the performance. Seating subject to availability.)

Speaker Series: Sunday, April 6, 2025 at 1:30pm. Featuring Dramaturg Juno Hunter, offering a compelling exploration of Oscar Wilde’s life and legacy, and the enduring significance of The Picture of Dorian Gray in today’s social climate.

Talk Back Thursdays: Engage with the Creators! After every Thursday performance, stay for a free Talk Back where members of the creative team discuss their roles and answer your questions about their creative journey.
Thursday, March 27, 2025 at 10:00am
Thursday, April 3, 2025 at 7:30pm
Thursday, April 10, 2025 at 7:30pm

Open Captioned Performance: Saturday, April 12, 2025 at 2:00pm
(Open Captioned Performances: An LED captioning screen, located in the South East corner of the theatre displays the dialogue and any other audio portion of the production in text form in sync with the performance. For questions about reserving seating in view of the captioning signage, please contact ICTC’s Box Office at 716-853-4282 (voice), or email BoxOffice@irishclassical.com.)

About the Playwrights:

Phoebe Eclair-Powell is a writer from South East London. Her plays include: Shed: Exploded View (Royal Exchange, Manchester, 2024); Dorian, adapted with Owen Horsley from Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray (Reading Rep Theatre, 2021); Harm (Bush Theatre, 2021); Epic Love and Pop Songs (Pleasance, Edinburgh, 2016); Fury (Soho Theatre, 2016); WINK (Theatre503, 2015); One Under (Pleasance Below); Mrs Spine (OUTLINES at the Old Red Lion); Bangin’ Wolves (Courting Drama at the Bush Upstairs, published by Playdead Press, later with Poleroid Theatre for Wilderness Festival); two rapid write response pieces, Coal Eaters and Glass Hands (Theatre503); The Box (Theatre Delicatessen SPACED festival and Latitude Festival); Elephant and My Castle (SALT Theatre at Southwark Playhouse); CARE (Miniaturists at the Arcola).

She was the overall winner of the 2019 Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting, for her play Shed: Exploded View. Fury was a finalist for the 2015 Verity Bargate Award, and the winner of the Soho Theatre Young Writers’ Award.

Owen Horsley is an Associate Artist of the Royal Shakespeare Company. Directing credits include Diana: The Musical (Hammersmith Apollo), Into the Woods (RWCMD) La Cenerentola (Nevill Holt Opera), Linck & Mülhahn (Hampstead Theatre), Wars of the Roses (RSC) Maydays by David Edgar (RSC), Salome by Oscar Wilde (RSC) The Famous Victories of Henry V (RSC), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Garsington Opera), Henry V (Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre) and The Picture of Dorian Gray (Watermill Theatre)

Owen was Associate Director on the RSC King and Country Tour and worked with Artistic Director Gregory Doran on Richard II and Henry IV Part 1 and 2 and Henry V from 2013-16.

Owen is also an Associate Director for Cheek by Jowl. He was Assistant Director to Declan Donnellan on The Changeling (2006) Cymbeline (2007), Troilus and Cressida (2008), Macbeth (2009-11) and ‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore (2011-13) becoming Associate Director in 2010. Owen Co-Directed the 2013 Tour of Tis Pity.

Other directing credits include Alls Well That Ends Well (Stella Adler), The Two Noble Kinsmen (RWCMD) Outside on the Street (Edinburgh Fringe and Arcola) Antony and Cleopatra, Lysistrata, As You Like It (Guildhall School of Music and Drama), Edward II (St Andrew’s Crypt), In Bed With Messalina (Courtyard Theatre) See What I See (St Clements Mental Hospital) and The Duchess of Malfi (Southwark Playhouse and UK Tour).

Owen created Bard City in 2016, which offers Shakespeare training in New York as well as presenting innovative versions of his work.

Owen works extensively Internationally. He has led workshops in Spain, Italy, Luxembourg, USA, China and France. Owen’s first Spanish production, The Malcontent, opened at the Almagro Festival in August 2011 before transferring to Madrid.

The Story of Dorian:

Interview by Phoebe Eclair-Powell & Owen Horsley

In 2017 the lovely folks at the Watermill asked Phoebe to adapt The Picture of Dorian Gray and Owen to direct it for their schools’ tour, the idea being to make something accessible and easy for students who were studying the book. The cast would have to be limited to three actors, with minimal set, lighting and costume. We were excited by the challenge and immediately clicked – we wanted to make something boisterous, comic and irreverent. Our references were Absolutely Fabulous and The Neon Demon – naturally. And we made just that: a fun, frivolous version which potentially lacked the gothic heart of the novel – and indeed the queer perspective that a work of Oscar Wilde’s demands. We always promised ourselves that we would do it again one day and redress some of these glaring omissions …

A few years later, and fate would have it that Paul and Nick – the lovely Artistic Director and Exec Producer of Reading Rep – were opening a brand-new theatre in Reading. They had heard of our Dorian Gray and were intrigued. When we explained that we wanted to expand on it, were totally up for our queer, experimental version. What became immediately clear was that the story needed to be co-written this time. We would use the material Phoebe had adapted from the book for the most part, but only Owen could bring the heart and the authenticity. We also realised that this story, the story of Dorian Gray, cannot be told in full without discussing the context of the time in which Wilde was writing, and indeed what the book meant for Wilde. After all, the book was used as evidence against him in his trial for gross indecency.

It became abundantly clear that we needed to tell Oscar’s story alongside Dorian’s, playing with and exploring the almost spooky parallels of love, loss, truth and disillusion. And also – most notably- punishment and shame. This is a story about Victorian morality and views on sexuality that still preside and cling today. Reading Rep wanted to have an Oscar Wilde in their season because Oscar, of course, went to jail in Reading -and is an icon in the area, albeit for very problematic and traumatic reasons. It felt only right that we told that story on stage – shining a light on how we have tried to glorify a story that actually has a huge amount of sadness to it. And how that story still touches and resonates today.

As such, we have drawn on real-life records of some of Oscar’s trials, as well as a kaleidoscope of titbits from various biographies, letters, documentaries, and the team’s own modern queer stories – creating a sort of living history alongside Dorian’s downfall. This version exposes the queer undertones of the novel and pays homage to the experience of men during the Victorian era who were subject to a law that kept their truth hidden. It is a tapestry of a play that asks the audience to immerse themselves in an ever-changing queer narrative, and to reassess that which we think we know. But most importantly we wanted to imbue the text with pride, hope, love and, ultimately, queer joy. We hope that this time we have been able to do just that. We hope Oscar likes it. 

Dramaturgy Note:

By Juno Hunter, Dramaturg

To paraphrase Oscar Wilde, art often reveals the audience more than it reveals the artist. This is certainly true in the case of The Picture of Dorian Gray. The book was hugely controversial at its initial release, with some calling for Wilde’s imprisonment just for writing it. The book was heavily edited, both with and without Wilde’s consent, and a 500-word passage would be cut, which was only found in print again for the first time in 2011. It would later even be used as evidence against him in his trial for ‘gross indecency’ (a coded legal term for any sexually-charged intimacy between men). The reaction was clear: Dorian Gray was immoral. Perverted. Queer.  

Oscar Wilde released it during a time of heightened panic around homosexuality, following a recent broadening of laws against homosexuality and a string of scandals involving influential individuals being outed for engaging with other men. We find ourselves now in another lavender scare–a term coined initially for the mass, institutional moral panic around queerness in the 1940s. Trans people are being denied safety, privacy, and healthcare. Gay marriage is being threatened. Books are being banned. Institutions are taking calculated steps to erase queer people and our history from the public memory.  

In a political climate like this, what people take from challenging art is revealing. We see it in a certain major streaming service’s decision to make Basil and Dorian siblings in their adaptation of The Picture of Dorian Gray. We see it in the institutional censorship of art like Félix González-Torres’ Untitled (Portrait of Ross in L.A.). We see it in paranoia and outcry around drag. ‘Drag artists should be imprisoned! It’s immoral! Perverted! Queer.’ Sound familiar?  

So what do we do about this? We mourn. We protest. We dance. We make art. Art like Dorian, that centers the adversity and the joy of queerness, is necessary. We cannot be moralized out of the public eye, no matter how often they will try. Because queerness represents possibility and freedom. Because we have color and joy and community. When Oscar Wilde died, he was spurned by the society that had once praised his work, exiled from England and abandoned by most of his former peers. Robbie Ross, Wilde’s longtime lover, became his literary executor. He made sure Wilde received a proper burial. With help, he published a definitive collection of Wilde’s work and eventually transferred all rights and money earned from publication or performance of Wilde’s plays to his sons. Eight years after Wilde’s death, Ross commissioned the sculpture now found over Wilde’s tomb, in which his own ashes were later placed. Almost a century after his death, after years of derision and dismissal, Wilde’s works–The Picture of Dorian Gray most notably–would finally gain the appreciation they deserved. During the 1990s-2010s, visitors to Wilde’s grave would apply lipstick and kiss the limestone sculpture. So many people left lasting marks to their love of Wilde that the kisses began to eat away at the limestone, causing a barrier to be erected around the sculpture for its protection. Perhaps our love for Oscar Wilde tells us more about our own grief and hope than it tells us about him.

About the Director & Performers:

Mason Beggs (Director & Sound Designer)
Mason, originally from Corry, Pennsylvania, is a director and educator based in Buffalo, NY. He earned his MFA in Directing from The New School for Drama, where he also served as part of their Directing Faculty and was Co-Chair of the Curriculum Committee. He has developed work at venues such as: New York Theatre Workshop, PTC Performance Space, Playwrights Horizons, The Lion Theater, Art House Productions, The Cell, Theatre for the New City, Tisch School for the Arts, The New School for Drama, and Theatre 80. www.masonbeggs.com

Kristopher Bartolomeo (Actor One)
Kristopher is ecstatic to be a part of his first production with the Irish Classical Theatre Company. He holds a BFA in Musical Theatre from the University at Buffalo, and has spent the past few years working professionally around the area as both an actor and drag artist. Recent credits include Newsies (Spot/Specs), The Rocky Horror Show (Frank ‘N Furter), and Romeo & Juliet (Benvolio). A special shout-out to his chosen family who’ve supported him along the way.

Brian Brown (Actor Two)
Brian is ecstatic to be making his ICTC debut! He is currently a company member and serves as Managing Director at Ujima Company. Brian was last seen on stage as Harpo in the critically acclaimed collaboration production of The Color Purple at Shea’s 710 with Ujima, Shea’s, and Second Generation Theatre. Also a recent 2023 Artie winner for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Play for his performance as Millie in Toni Stone. Buffalo credits include Songs for a New World (Man 1) Second Generation Theatre; The Lifespan of a Fact (Jim Fingal), Hairspray (Seaweed) D’Youville Kavinoky Theatre; and Choir Boy (Pharus), The African Company Presents Richard III (James Hewlett) Ujima Theatre Company. As always he would like to thank God, his family, and best friends for their love and support. Special thanks to the Dorian cast and crew for an amazing process. To Lorna C. Hill for her everlasting love and vision. POSE.

Dave Spychalski (Actor Three)
Dave is a proud Buffalonian Actor who is truly thrilled to be a part of Dorian. He is a graduate of Niagara University’s theatre program receiving his BFA in 2013. Some of his favorite credits include: Big Fish: The Musical (Karl The Giant, Second Generation), All Is Calm (Company, MusicalFare), Charmagne Chi’s Blue Xmas (Company, Kavinoky), Disney’s Beauty and the Beast (Gaston, Theatre Of Youth) and Kinky Boots (Don, MusicalFare) for which he won the Artie Award for outstanding supporting actor in a musical. Much love to Doug, his family and les bébés. @DaveTheeSpy on Instagram and Bluesky.