Dorian Gray

Finally went and saw the Picture of Dorian Gray last Saturday night and since I'm still relatively new to this whole reviewing thing ... bear with me :)
TROY
I thought that he was extremely well-cast in the role of Dorian ... He's such a pretty boy :p It's that alabaster skin. He barely missed a beat on stage and I honestly don't think Tim Edwards could have picked better Dorian. I've seen Troy in a number of roles before but I honestly believe this was the first one that actually did his talent justice ... I was very impressed. The stutter, the wide-eyes, the descent into madness was fantastic. He has an amazing presence and a real naturalism to his acting style.
PETER
I thought he was extremely strong in the first act of the play although he did seem to drop off a little at the end. However, this in no way detracted from the fact that he too is a very talented man. His passion for Dorian and his art really was believable ... he managed to present an extremely believable and sympathetic character. There was one point in the play where I thought he had actually cut-off one of Troy's lines of which I was later told was exactly what they were aiming for ... to make it appear as if Dorian really had more to say ... well congrats, you had me fooled.
CURTIS
I felt that Curtis was too young for the role ... I really felt it should have been an older man ... but that's just my opinion. Plus his accent was sometimes hard to understand ... it was slightly jarring - especially when compared to Lady Narborough. He acted well but it seemed that as the other characters became affected by Dorian's descent into madness, Harry remained exactly the same ... I just felt that it would have been more effective if Curtis' character shown some awareness that Dorian had far surpassed him in the debauchery stakes.
LADY NARBOROUGH
Jenny was brilliant as usual ... her accent was flawless, her performance smooth and strong ... and she looked gorgeous! Jenny was great.
JULIA
I agree with Jarrod, that woman could play a cockney whore with her eyes closed ...
SCOTT
I loved the earthiness of his character ... it really impressed me that he managed to really humanise James. You honestly beleived that he would kill anyone who hurt his sister. He had the brotherly protection thing down pat.
BROOK
I don't know what it was but unfortunately I felt like she was missing something as Sybil Vane. To start, I really didn't like the call on her costuming. The wig was horrendous ... although I've been told that what it replaced is actually an improvement. It was highly unflattering and more than a little distracting. She's a very attractive girl but her costumes were simply unflattering ... the dress seemed to big for her, and her makeup looked like paint. She was supposed to be a theatre actress but Dorian claimed she wasn't a painted actress, but that's what she looked like. Ir really detracted from the beleivability of Dorian's love for her. Not only that but there seemed to be no chemistry at all between Dorian and Sybil.
If I've missed anyone else I'm sorry. In all, I thought that the show had some really talented actors and actresses who did an impressive job with what they had to work with, but it wasn't one of my favourite shows. However, this is a criticism of the script, not what the director and actors did with it.

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