(DailyDig.com) – Star of “Succession” Sarah Snook has discovered her next, and maybe most out-of-the-box part— she will play the title role in a theatrical production of “The Picture of Dorian Gray.”
When the play premieres at London’s Theatre Royal Haymarket in January 2024 for a strictly restricted 12-week season, the Emmy-nominated performer will have the herculean challenge of portraying all 26 roles.
Snook, who previously appeared as Shiv Roy in the just-ended show “Succession,” will play all twenty-six roles in “The Picture of Dorian Gray,” a drama based on Oscar Wilde’s classic book of the same name.
The play is being billed as ‘cine-theatre,’ and Snook will reportedly be creating footage of a few of the characters while still performing on stage with them. In the autumn of 2023, she will begin rehearsals for the parts. She will be recording many of the 26 roles to be played back during the performances, and she will be onstage with her personas on screen. The actress will appear on a series of on-stage screens as Snook interacts with them for the benefit of the audience.
It’s possible that the show will have a Broadway run. The classic novel tells the story of a good-looking and vain man who never ages, while an oil portrait of him kept hidden shows the ravages of time and the stains on his character. For the whole 12 weeks, Snook will play all 26 parts. She has to perform these parts for two straight hours with no intervals.
Kip Williams, the creative director of Australia’s renowned Sydney Theatre Company, conceived of this one-of-a-kind show. Performer Eryn Jean Norvill was included in the first appearance in Sydney. Those who saw the show gushed about how the singular actor on the boards interacted with video footage of themselves in character costumes.
For Snook, this would be her first attempt at such a complicated role, and for many in the audience, it will be their first time seeing a play like this as well.
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