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Synopsis
Act 1: opens on a busy London street in 1880.
The company celebrate the seasons of life 'Through an Artist's Eye'.
Among them the artist Basil Hallward sketches, suddenly finding inspiration in the eyes of a young man who agrees
to sit for him. His name is Dorian Gray.
Two months later, in his studio, Basil tells Lord Henry Wotton about this extraordinary youth who has brought
new intensity into his life and art. The picture of Dorian Gray is almost complete: but to Henry's surprise Basil
will never exhibit it - it reveals too much of himself. When it's model arrives for his final sitting Henry stays
against the painter's wishes. He urges Dorian to live to the full the life of his senses, to exploit the world
that belongs to him for a season; and, fired by Henry's influence, Dorian sees his portrait for the first time.
Bitterly jealous of its permanent beauty, he vows to sacrifice his soul if only the portrait will age in his place
and he can stay young forever. Shocked, Basil tries to destroy it but Dorian stops him. The picture will be sent
to his house as a gift.
In the following scene Lord Henry takes his new protégé to Aunt Agatha's soiree where her guests
express their admiration for the handsome, accomplished youth 'Dorian Gray'.
While he plays the piano for his audience, Lady Agatha tells Henry about Dorian's tragic past and his inheritance,
via his late grandfather, of the Selby Royal estate. Alone, Henry resolves to exploit this 'child of love and death'
for his own pleasure; and when Dorian confides to him his love for an unknown actress, Sybil Vane, he enthusiastically
persuades him to marry her. 'Actress'.
Scene four takes us to Sybil Vane's home near the theatre in Bluegate Fields. She is giddy with love for the
mysterious and aristocratic 'Prince Charming' who comes every night to watch her perform. Mrs Vane, herself a retired
actress, has doubts: she reminds her daughter of their obligations to Mr Isaacs, the theatre manager. Sybil's brother
James is more blunt about his intentions towards any man who wrongs her. It is the day of his departure for Australia
in a merchant ship, and the scene concludes with the three of them sharing hopes, fears and dreams among other
strollers in Hyde Park before James sails and Sybil performs 'Castles in the Air'.
That evening, Dorian takes Lord Henry to see Sybil play Juliet. She impresses Henry with her beauty but her
performance is a disaster: her real love for 'Prince Charming' has stolen the life from her acted love for Romeo.
Henry is scornful, Dorian is mortified, and even the audience (tempted into the theatre in the first place by the
scene-opening 'Bluegate Fields') voices its derision. After the performance,
in her dressing-room and blissfully unaware of her failure, Sybil anticipates her lover's visit.
'Prince
Charming'. But when Dorian enters he brutally rejects her for shaming him 'Juliet
Still Lives' and abandons Sybil to her absolute grief.
In the final scene of the Act, Lord Henry calls on Dorian late the following morning. Victor, Dorian's valet,
is concerned that he has not returned from the previous night's engagement. At that moment he does come home, having
spent the entire night walking the streets. Exhausted but elated, he tells Henry that he is going to ask Sybil
to marry him after all! Henry reveals the purpose of his visit, to discover Dorian's reaction to news he assumed
he had himself heard: news of Sybil's suicide. He counsels the distraught lover to see her death as the climax
of a tragic play, to mourn Juliet rather than Sybil Vane. After Henry leaves, Dorian makes a discovery that terrifies
him: when he lifts the cover from his newly delivered portrait he sees its face twisted in a cruel sneer. Shock
changes to defiance as he realises the strange power his Faust-like bargain has granted him... Victor interrupts
his thoughts by announcing Mr Hubbard, the frame maker, and his assistant. Immediately he decides not to have the
portrait hung in the library as he had planned: instead, he orders the two men to carry the covered picture upstairs
to the attic. This they do, with much struggling, straining and speculation.
'Hangin'.
Once there the portrait will remain hidden for the rest of Dorian's life.
Act II : begins with a scene that charts the progress of eighteen
years of Dorian's life from that fateful year. In contrast with their earlier praises, the company condemn the
man whose youth seems eternal but whose influence is increasingly dangerous
'Time Will
Fade' / 'Oh So Strange' sequence. The plot resumes
in November 1898, when Basil Hallward, on way his to Paris to revive his flagging career, calls on Dorian late
at night. Astounded by the youth of a friend he has not seen for years, he tells Dorian about disturbing reports
of his corrupting influence and implores him to rid himself of his 'madness for pleasure' before it is too late.
Dorian responds by taking him up to the attic where, among 'the spoils' of the war he has waged against time, stands
the portrait. The cover is removed to reveal a hideous transformation, the visible image of Dorian Gray's soul.
The climax of their exchange of feelings 'The Work of Satan's Hand' is the
murder of Basil Hallward. Early the next morning, in response to Dorian's summons, Dr Alan Campbell arrives; and,
under the threat of blackmail, he agrees to help with the disposal of the body.
The scene changes to Daly's bar, near the now derelict theatre where Sybil once appeared. A newly-arrived sailor
is welcomed by a group of prostitutes 'Bluegate Fields' Reprise;
and, drinking alone, is James Vane, still a merchant seaman and back from Australia. Then Dorian enters, craving
relief from his recent ordeal. One of the prostitutes recognises him as 'Prince Charming' and calls out his name.
James hears and follows him as he leaves the tavern. He seizes him with the intention of avenging his sister's
death, but under the gaslight the face of 'Prince Charming' is that of a twenty year old youth - how could he have
been responsible for Sybil's suicide? Dorian makes his escape, leaving James to reflect on his love for Sybil and
his yearning to be reunited with her 'Timeless Sea of
Love'. The scene
is transformed into the setting of an Opium den in which the danse macabre of
'Journey
Into Hell' takes place and where Dorian, joining members of the Company, seeks temporary oblivion.
It is now September 1899. Dorian has invited Lord Henry to join his few remaining friends and himself at Selby
Royal. He has resolved to give up the 'vileness' of his past life. Among the weekend party is Gladys, now the Duchess
of Monmouth, whom he had first met when she was only fourteen; and, while her husband joins the pheasant shoot
outside, Dorian enjoys a flirtation with her.
An accident is announced: one of the beaters has been shot dead. A search of the body produces papers revealing
his identity as a sailor, as well as a small pistol... Again, fate has appeared to favour Dorian Gray: and now,
why shouldn't Gladys, with whom he is falling in love, share his charmed life? With Henry as go-between, Dorian
and she declare their feelings 'Love Has
Intervened'. In the final scene,
two months later on a November evening a year after the still talked about disappearance of Basil Hallward, Lord
Henry visits Dorian at his London house. His host has just returned from Selby Royal. His youthful hope rekindled,
Dorian describes his 'moral rebirth' since the shooting incident and goes on to say that Gladys is coming alone
to his house that night. Henry, in an uncharacteristic show of feeling, dismisses this moral revival as mere vanity
and leaves. Undaunted, Dorian waits for Gladys and reflects that even the worst sinner is offered redemption
'Could I Start Again': his love for her will save his soul. But (in a brief
reprise of
'Prince
Charming' Sybil
Vane 'returns' to force him to relive the moment he rejected her. He regains self-control and resolves to see his
portrait once more. If its beauty is restored, even partially, then true redemption is his. In the attic he removes
the cover to find the worst horror of all: the picture is more hideous than ever and is now covered in blood. He
seizes the dagger which killed Basil and is about to stab the picture to kill its 'monstrous soul-life', when the
ghosts of his victims, with the Company, surround him in a demonic finale, the
reprise of
'Dorian Gray'.
At the climax he stabs the picture and falls dead at its feet. Responding to his cry, Gladys appears at the
attic door and sees the body of an aged man contorted in death. Then as the music of
'Love
has Intervened' swells to its own climax, both she and the audience see, as if it rises from the corpse,
the beautiful and enduring picture of Dorian Gray.
The End
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