After playing Shiv Roy in "Succession," the critically acclaimed TV series that satirically portrayed the uber-rich but morally bankrupt Roy family grappling for control of a media empire, Sarah Snook will star in another production that skewers society.
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.
Adapted from Oscar Wilde's classic novel, it tells the story of Dorian Gray, a young man who sells his soul for eternal youth and beauty while a portrait of him, representing his soul, grows older and uglier, exploring themes of morality, vanity and hedonism.
"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."
The play's original run in Sydney, also directed by Williams but starring Eryn Jean Norvill, was lauded by TimeOut as "one of the greatest performances ever seen on an Australian stage," and by the Guardian as a "dizzyingly beautiful tour de force."
By using technology and incorporating elements such as SnapChat filters and other selfie-style shots, TimeOut added that the production drew "heavy parallels to the impossible beauty standards of social media influencers and how this curated identity can be the painted rust concealing psychological trauma beneath."
Snook previously appeared on the West End in Henrik Ibsen's "The Master Builder" at the Old Vic Theatre in 2016 alongside Ralph Fiennes.
Snook's "Succession" on screen parents are also returning to the London stage. Brian Cox, who played media mogul Logan Roy, will star in Eugene O'Neill's Pulitzer-Prize winning "Long Day's Journey Into Night" in 2024, while Harriet Walter, who played Logan's ex-wife Caroline Collingwood, will appear in the National Theatre's production of "The House of Bernarda Alba" later this year.
