According to CNN, Succession star Sarah Snook is going to play 26 different characters in a stage show version of The Picture of Dorian Gray.
Versatility is the mark of any good actor. Although a handful of superstar actors can use their charisma and good looks to distract audiences from their lack of range, we usually tend to celebrate the actors that can completely transform into a new character with every role. Moreover, the actors who solely depend on their stunning countenances to remain aloft on the turbulent gales of celebrity have a shelf life equivalent to bodega bread.
As a result, it isn't uncommon to see actors select a role designed to highlight their ability to cycle through personas within a single film or production. Sometimes, we get a masterful performance that becomes the benchmark for future actors. And occasionally, we get an awful performance that rivals Tommy Wiesau's acting chops. There's no middle ground.
Hopefully, Succession star Sarah Snook can give us a performance that fits in the former category with her new role(s) in The Picture of Dorian Gray's stage show.
She will play all 26 roles in the "The Picture of Dorian Gray," which will run for 12 weeks at London's Theatre Royal Haymarket from January 2024.
Directed by Kip Williams, the artistic director of the Sydney Theatre Company, the play will combine live performance and video "in an astonishing collision of form," Theatre Royal Haymarket said.
"I am elated to return to the London stage in such an astonishing piece of theatre," Snook said, according to theater site WhatsOnStage. "From Oscar Wilde's remarkable original text to Kip Williams' stunning adaptation, this story of morality, innocence, narcissism, and consequence is going to be thrilling to recreate for a new audience. I can't wait."
