DORIAN House Theatre Chicago

".. striking, laudably ambitious..hip, sexy, movement-oriented show" - Ch Tribune
"boldly (and brashly) directed and choreographed" - Ch Sun Times
"clever, visually striking" - Ch Reader
"..brilliant and boldly modern variation of a classic explores the lines between self-image and self-destruction" - NewCity
"..frenetic pace ..the beautiful stage pictures, and awesome physical work propel the piece" - CenterStage.com
"lush, modern, sexy and fun! - ChicagoCritic.com
"..beautiful, sensual theatrical thriller, especially adapted for today’s audiences" - ChicagoTheatreReview.com


Thu-Sat 8pm; Sun 7p until May 18th  -  Tickets $25-39  -  More info: 773.769.3832


4/8/14 - 5/18/14

Thu-Sat 8p; Sun 7p


In this dance-club 'Dorian,' it's hard to feel the consequences - Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune 4/15/14.  " Tommy Rapley's "Dorian," a striking, laudably ambitious but problematic riff on Oscar Wilde's scandalous 1890 novel "The Picture of Dorian Gray," moves the action to the modern era: a dance-fused, Big City clubland wherein the title character writhes to a techno beat, physically untouched by booze, sex, betrayal and despair.


The character of Basil becomes a handsome gay painter (Patrick Andrews) suitably infatuated with the title character, played by Cole Simon, whose ever-increasing debauchery is revealed on a digital canvas, even as the man himself remains untouched by the ravages of time and sin. Lord Henry Wotton, the ironist who leads Dorian through his new life, becomes Harry (Manny Buckley) a pretentious art critic and scenester. Sybil (Kelley Abell), whom Wilde created as a third-tier Shakespearean actress with whom the hedonistic and impervious Dorian toys, becomes a sensual performance artist who tends bar on the side.


That modernization — co-written with Ben Lobpries — is formatively intriguing, and it certainly allows Rapley, a choreographer long interested in the fusion of contemporary dance and its social manifestation, to create a hip, sexy, movement-oriented show. The ensemble also includes Ben Burke, Ally Carey, Bryan Conner, Blake McKay, Lauren Pizzi, Monica Thomas, Alex Weisman and Donnell Williams. But the promenade-style piece would work much better if the characters were more credible and not so much confined to archetype and one dimension. When the actual personalities get so subsumed in the swirl, it's actually difficult for the story to be in any way shocking, or even striking, as you decide early on that, likely as not, most of these people would do anything.


To put that issue another way, the Wilde yarn works because the famously horrific portrait (if you've never read the story, it involves the effects of Dorian's sins showing up on a painted picture, not his body) stands in sharp contrast to the conservatism of the world that both the picture and Dorian inhabit. In "Dorian," the portrait seems no kind of aberration at all but merely another manifestation of the general hedonism of the digital party landscape. And thus it does not stand out as in any way shocking.


That, in turn, tends to dissipate the dramatic, so the biggest issue with the show, which opened Monday at the Chopin Theatre in Wicker Park, is that it feels like nothing really is at stake for anyone. Modernized or not, Dorian's deeds have to be set against some counterbalancing force — some equivalent of Wilde's conservative Victorian England. In this show, it feels like there is a hedonistic Dorian hiding round every corner.

Alas, Simon also does not change palpably during the show, which is also a serous problem, since change is everything with this particular dude. Some of the supporting characters are more interesting: Andrews and Weisman bring an emotional center, and Abell has vulnerability to go with her panache. But these efforts tend to get subsumed in the stylistic wash, which ends up being anesthetizing, dramatically speaking.

I saw an early version of this piece back in 2006. It certainly has been polished and sensualized since then, and it is not without appeal. But it still struggles to tell one of Wilde's greatest but most challenging stories, a tale shrouded in throbbing metaphor, shocking symbol and manifest sexual repression. Once it's all a big outre dance party, fun and beautiful as that can sometimes be, the picture of Dorian looks too much like just another digital image.

 


Modern take on Dorian not picture-perfect - Hedy Weiss, Chicago Sun Times 4/21/14.  " Social and cultural norms have changed radically since 1890, when Oscar Wilde encountered outrage and censorship for his novel “The Portrait of Dorian Gray,” the tale of a young man who sells his soul in exchange for the promise that he will remain unscathed by time, while only an artist’s portrait of him, made at the height of his beauty, ages. And age that portrait most certainly does, with each of Dorian’s increasingly debauched and selfish acts disfiguring it in increasingly grotesque ways.


For better and for worse, “Dorian,” the House Theatre of Chicago’s modern adaptation of Wilde’s Faust-meets-gothic classic, takes full advantage of our far more sexually open society. As boldly (and brashly) directed and choreographed by Tommy Rapley, and co-written by Rapley and Ben Lobpries, every element of sex, violence, transgressive behavior and artistic decadence becomes far more explicit than Wilde could ever have expected. Their highly charged show uses elaborate, expertly realized dance sequences to simulate sex, both heterosexual and homosexual. In fact, you might easily interpret this production as an unintentional reinforcement of gay life stereotypes.

The time is now, and the place is all the effete outposts of the visual and performance art scene, from galleries and private apartments to chic parties, bars and auctions.

When artist Basil (Patrick Andrews) first spots Dorian (Cole Simon), he is immediately taken with his beauty and proceeds to seduce the rather reluctant man to model for him. The result (and projectionist Lee Keenan makes innovative use of photographer Jeff Klapperich’s work to create the portrait) is what Basil believes is a breakthrough piece of art that he agrees to give Dorian as a gift.

As Dorian becomes the center of all attention and lust, he adapts the philosophy of Harry (the flamboyant Manny Buckley), a hedonistic art critic. He plays with the affections of an avant-garde dancer, Sybil (Kelley Abell), to the point where she even attempts suicide. And he badly uses and abuses the essentially decent, emotionally needy Alan (Alex Weisman), a wealthy doctor who invests in the artists’ colony run by Gladys (Lauren Pizzi), a master promoter of cutting-edge work.

While Rapley and Lobpries have found trendy equivalents of Wilde’s social circles — and the emptiness and ruin that can come with superficial celebrity, the obsession with youth, and a life of decadence — they also have vulgarized the language.

Dorian’s attempt to seduce an underage girl (Ally Carey) is a nice little addition. And Collette Pollard’s movable set of giant white cubes “dances” as gracefully as Simon, Andrews and Abell. But the show (which encourages the audience to move around) has far too many endings. Well before it’s all over, the shock value turns to tedium".



Dorian - by Kris Vire, www.TimeOutChicago.com.  - "Ben Lobpries and Tommy Rapley have revised their 2006 update/adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, first staged at the now-defunct Bailiwick Repertory, for a new production at the House Theatre of Chicago. I didn’t manage to see the widely acclaimed Bailiwick production before it closed, and regretted missing it almost immediately (even more so after it earned a spot on Time Out Chicago’s list of the 10 best plays of the year). After experiencing Rapley and Lobpries’s new version, I’m even sorrier, since it seems Dorian, unlike its title character, doesn’t have a supernatural force keeping it flawless.


As before, this Dorian is set loosely in the New York art scene of the 1980s, where painter Basil (Patrick Andrews) discovers the gorgeous but nervous Dorian (Cole Simon) and asks him to model. Dorian gets absorbed into Basil’s social circle, which includes bitchy critic Harry (Manny Buckley), aspiring gallerist Gladys (Lauren Pizzi), med student Alan (Alex Weisman) and dancer Sybil (Kelley Abell), along with an ensemble of anonymous club kids in Day-Glo hues. As Basil’s portrait of Dorian allows the latter to be expunged of  “pain, gain, shame and guilt,” not to mention any signs of aging, Dorian blithely injures one friend after another.

Rapley’s decision to stage his new production in promenade style is a major problem. I tend to appreciate the multiplicity of perspectives promenade affords (particularly when skillfully deployed by the Hypocrites' Sean Graney, a master of the form). But the Chopin Theatre’s mainstage proves too cramped to really explore, with scenic designer Collette Pollard’s raised platform creating a natural barrier to audience circulation upstage and ensemble members constantly pushing giant blocks through the crowd or shooing us out of the way to clear a playing space. Rapley and company like the idea of letting audience members roam, but in practice we’re pinned to either side of the stage with little room for movement.

Speaking of movement, the vaunted physical language created by Rapley (an unmistakably gifted choreographer, as demonstrated in multiple productions over the years) eight years ago seems to have been dialed back. Aside from a series of stylized, gestural motions representing the characters’ copious drinking, smoking and a pose by Dorian that apparently represents his offloading his sins to the painting, true dance sequences are too few and far between. Instead we get a more dialogue-driven rendering of Wilde’s tale, and dialogue has never been the strongest suit for any of the House’s resident playwrights.

Much of the basic storytelling here is tough to follow. Though Simon certainly fits the eye-candy aspect of Dorian’s role and develops a palpable chemistry with Andrews, his twitchy skittishness around strangers melts away without explanation, just as the character of Sybil disappears for a long stretch without mention despite being a major catalyst early on. It’s perplexingly difficult to track how time is passing throughout the piece, in fact; what feels like a day or two elapsing between scenes might be jarringly referenced in dialogue as 10 years.

As usual, the House has some intriguing visual tricks up its sleeve, including a recurring metaphor of barbed wire representing Dorian’s offenses. Then there’s the portrait itself—here depicted not by a live actor, as it was in the original, but in a series of manipulated photographs by artist Jeff Klapperich, projected in an enormous frame at the focal point of Pollard’s set. As arresting as the images are, they’re also rather literalist. You could be forgiven for wishing for something more Wilde-ly suggestive".

 


D Down the rabbit hole with te House Theatre's "Dorian" - Tony Adler, Chicago Reader 4/24/14 - "There's a bar at the downstage end of the performance space; audience members can belly up before the show and buy a drink, picking either the red cocktail or the blue—a reference, perhaps, to the red and blue pills Morpheus offers Neo in The Matrix. Remember? "You take the blue pill, the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill, you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes."

Only the House Theatre of Chicago's world-premiere production of Dorian doesn't give us even as many options as Neo gets. Choose the red, the blue, a Sprite, or no drink at all, you'll still be heading down the rabbit hole.

Actually, "through the lookingglass" might be the more appropriate allusion here. Written by Ben Lobpries and Tommy Rapley, Dorian is a promenade-style adaptation of The Picture of Dorian Gray, the classic 1890 horror story by Oscar Wilde in which everything hangs on what a man finds reflected in his own image.

Wilde's novel concerns a gorgeous young naif, the titular Mr. Gray, who becomes the toast of London's smart society. When a friend paints his portrait, a strange alchemy occurs: Dorian neither ages nor displays the physical effects of his increasingly reckless lifestyle. Instead the portrait absorbs the years, crimes, and dissipations, growing progressively more grotesque—and therefore more reflective of the true state of Dorian's soul—as time goes on.

This clever, visually striking House Theatre version updates Wilde's tale to a rarified corner of the present. Collette Pollard's environmental scenic design drops us into a Warholian world where chic, moneyed, mostly smug young aesthetes order drinks with names like Double Penetration and Sloppy Seconds while dancing among opalescent pillars that continually change color. Dorian materializes out of nowhere (and for no apparent reason), literally squirming in his timidity. His supernal hotness quickly attracts attention, however, and a crowd forms around him, the core of which consists of struggling gay painter Basil, art-scene doyenne Gladys, nerdy tagalong Alan, erotic performance artist Sybil, and fey critic Harry (who explains that he judges art because he hasn't a "glimmer" of talent when it comes to making it). Soon Dorian has emerged from his shell far enough to have serial affairs with Sybil and Basil.

And soon after that the shell shatters entirely. Dorian ends up combining the attitude of a party kid with the ethics of a Machiavelli and the pathological charm of a Ted Bundy. One of the subtler triumphs of Cole Simon's performance in the role is the hardening he manifests in his Rob Lowe-like features as Dorian falls farther and farther down the rabbit hole.

Of course, that's nothing compared to what happens to the face and torso in the portrait. The Art Institute has the canvas Illinois-bred artist Ivan Albright painted for Albert Lewin's 1945 movie of The Picture of Dorian Gray; though done in oils, it looks as if Albright dropped it in the Atlantic for a while, to get a barnacled, bloated, salt-stained, fish-nibbled look reminiscent of Ariel's song from The Tempest—the one that goes, "Of his bones are coral made / Those are pearls that were his eyes." By contrast, Jeff Klapperich's photo-based images for the House Theatre suggest Francis Bacon more than a sea change. Worms in red meat. Projected on the upstage wall of the theater, they offer a more dynamic vision of Dorian's degradation/desiccation than Albright and Lewin could've hoped to achieve.

It's a beautiful sort of ugliness. Indeed, the whole show pushes for, and often enough achieves, a debauched grace. As director, coauthor Rapley stages much of the action in a highly stylized manner that recalls the pedestrian choreographic language of the 1970s, building a powerful sense of character and place through gestural tics. Patrick Andrews's Basil, in particular, communicates a great deal in the way he habitually leans his body, head first, toward Simon's Dorian. And a scene in which Alex Weisman's Alan succumbs to his greatest desire/fear is stunningly effective. Even relatively small choices—such as depicting advancing age by drawing a band of white across the characters' eyes—are extraordinary.

If only Rapley and Lobpries had lavished the same exquisite attention on the script. Certainly, there are narrative issues that could use a closer look, such as the lack of any backstory that would help us understand what makes Dorian act the way he does. But more important, the play doesn't realize its potential in thematic terms. In a time like ours, when identity is as fluid as water, gender is a changing construct, and science makes the notion of eternal youth both a serious goal and a joke on Joan Rivers, Wilde's story has plenty of resonance. The authors of Dorian seem willing to frame it as a critique of a decadent art world and let it go at that. They drop down the rabbit hole, sure—but not far enough".

Dorian - by Mary Kroeck, NewCityChicago.com - "Flashing lights, club music, alcoholic beverages, a coat rack, wristbands and people mingling seem more like traits of a party than a play. However, this is what audience members walk into at House Theatre’s production of “Dorian.” Needless to say, once the show officially begins, the party just keeps rolling and the audience is taken on an avant-garde theatrical journey.

“Dorian,” is a new adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s “The Picture of Dorian Gray” from playwrights (and House Theatre company members) Ben Lobpries and Tommy Rapley (Rapley also serves as director and choreographer). Like the novel, the play tells the story of a man who desperately wants to hold onto his youth at any cost and magically receives his wish.

Though the show’s story can be quite dark, there is a great mix of comedy and drama in the script, which is fantastically brought to life by Patrick Andrews (as Basil, a tortured artist and love interest of Dorian), Kelley Abell (as Sybil, a performance artist and another of Dorian’s love interests), Manny Buckley (art critic extraordinaire), Ally Carey (Sybil’s daughter, Isabelle), Lauren Pizzi (a socialite in the art world), Alex Weisman (as Alan, a man infatuated with Dorian) and Cole Simon (as the titular Dorian). Dance and movement are just as important as the dialogue and comedic punch lines are hit just as cleverly as Dorian’s blades cut skin and echo his destruction.

While some liberties are taken to modernize the story, the overall themes from the book, such as aestheticism and the true cost of youth and beauty, as well as such motifs as the use of the color white, carry over to the stage with imaginative execution. For example, large white moveable blocks are a main component of Collette Pollard’s scenic design. The blocks allow the space to transform into various minimalistic smaller-scale settings, from tables in a restaurant to part of a catwalk.

The show is set in promenade style, meaning there is limited house seating and the audience is invited to walk about the set with the actors from scene to scene and experience every party, gallery opening and intimate scene shared from the point of view of the actors. However, when the set’s blocks aren’t being used in a scene, patrons can also generally use them as seats. The successful implementation of this style is also a credit to the talent of the entire cast and crew. From time to time the ensemble (Ben Burke, Ally Carey, Bryan Conner, Blake McKay, Monica Thomas and Donnell Williams) directs the audience where to move for safety or a better view, but it rarely takes the audience out of the show. Likewise, with the amount of movement that takes place throughout the performance—by actors and audience members alike—time passes quickly and two hours of theater seem to pass in mere moments.

Whether you enjoy “sloppy seconds” or “double penetration” (the adult drinks of choice at the show’s bar), this brilliant and boldly modern variation of a classic story that explores the lines between self-image and self-destruction is one that Wilde would likely take pride in".

 

 

Dorian - Christopher Kidder-Mostrum, www.CenterStage.com.  - "Oscar Wilde’s works are normally presented in the time in which they were written, and appreciated for his wordplay and satirical look at the social mores and etiquette of the day. Not so “The Picture of Dorian Gray”, which as a proto-horror novel, tells the tale of a psychopath who is aided in his debauchery and murders by a supernatural painting.


The House Theatre of Chicago’s new adaptation, “Dorian”, brings the plot into the 21st century. The titular character (portrayed by Cole Simon) starts the play as a shy, handsome young man who poses for a painting by a renowned painter (played by Patrick Andrews). The two hint at a love relationship, but seemingly Dorian’s attentions go elsewhere very quickly.

Dorian falls in love, has his heart broken, and then, suddenly, he is fine. He is unaffected by the pain, because the painting takes on the damage. Every bit of physical or emotional damage that Dorian suffers over the years actually happens to the painting. Dorian himself remains young, and unhurt. This, despite the fact that he apparently has a cutting habit in which he takes a box cutter to himself with regularity.

The frenetic pace of the production, the beautiful stage pictures, and awesome physical work propel the piece past and through the audience who are standing within inches of the performers thanks to the promenade staging. It is easy to be caught up in the energy of this show, and not miss the omissions from the original tale. Dorian becomes a much more sympathetic character in this play, despite his living a scandalous life and killing two of his friends. The fact that his turn toward his questionable lifestyle can be traced to his heartbreak makes him less of a sociopath. Really, he comes off as just seriously damaged.

“Dorian” is a softened version of the horror novel. There is little horror or suspense. But, the production is so wild and fun that it isn’t missed.




Dance infused hedonist thriller visually enchanted theatrical experience - Tom Williams, ChicagoCritic.com.  - "The creatives at The House Theatre of Chicago have long stretched theatrical norms with their shows . Their latest, Dorian, continues that trend. It is a dance infused hedonist thrill based on the 1890 novel, “The Picture of Dorian Gray.” Dorian, written by Ben Lobpries and choreographer Tommy Rapley is a fast-paced affair that utilized in promenade style that has the audience standing and moving about the stage as the action moves about and unfolds. Thankfully, there are seats available for us sitters!


This is a boldly modern adaptation that uses techno music (by Kevin O’ Donnell) and it features a hardworking ensemble of 12 actor/dancers. Most of the players are disco enthusiasts and artists bent on always having a good time. A young handsome guy, Dorian Gray (Cole Simon) come to town and is immediately greedily embraced by a group of artists and an art critic. Sensitive painter Basil Howard (Patrick Andrews) creates a stunning portrait of Dorian as he falls for the beauty. Dorain wishes that he could forever be beautiflu as his two-dimensional portrait.

Over time as Dorian embraced the bohemian hedonistic lifestyle of the party goers,  it becomes apparent that everyone else  is aging but Dorain. He embraces beauty as the only meaningful part of life. He becomes arrogant and insensitive toward others as he attends many wild parties, has meaningless love affairs and inflicts pain on himself that manifests it self on his portrait.  Yet, Dorian goes decades without aging at all. Cole Simon is charismatic as Dorian.

I’ll not give away more of this thriller as it moves swiftly toward demonstration what crime can ultimately break the spell. The  show uses terrific, ever changing large screen portrait images (by Jeff  Klapperich) that vividly demonstrate the debauchery and madness as Dorian morphs into self destruction.

Patrick Andrews as the moody painter and Alex Weisman as the doctor who enjoys seeing others enjoy themselves were most effective an empathetic while Manny Buckley is terrific as the obnoxious swishy art critic Harry.

The swift movement together with the jumps, twists and twirls in Tommy Rapley’s impressive choreography was a tad over done as it diminished, after a warm early welcome, the power of metamorphosis of Dorian. Also, there is too many scene changes that found, at times, many in the audience unable to see what was happening.

Yet, the over all experience and the impressive  atmosphere and the stunning visuals (the changing portraits of Dorian) fueled this unique theatrical experience. Kevin O’Donnell’s techno music worked well with Rapley’s manic choreography.Dorian proves that often the effects of the whole story telling is superior to the parts. Dorian is lush, modern, sexy, and fun. For something different, Dorian is fine choice".




Highly Recommended . "A Picture Worth a Thousand Words" - Colin Douglas, ChicagoTheaterReview.com. - "When it first hit bookstores in 1890, British critics were shocked by the decadence and hedonism described in playwright Oscar Wilde’s only novel. It was widely condemned as immoral and became the book decent Londoners would never want to be caught reading. Pressured to sanitize its scandalous content, Wilde removed all references to homosexuality for the second printing the following year. Wilde also introduced a new character who, in true Victorian style, attempts to kill Dorian in order to avenge his sister’s suicide. Wilde also added a preface that defined art and defended the role of the artist.

Seemingly influenced by Oscar Wilde’s original text, Ben Lobpries collaborated with director/choreographer Tommy Rapley in creating this contemporary, movement-and-music based stage version of the controversial novel. Set to the driving, pulsating beat of Kevin O’Donnell’s dance music, Rapley stages and choreographs his versatile cast all over the Chopin Theatre space on Collette Pollard’s adaptable white block set. A functional bar, servicing both the characters and the audience, dominates one end of playing space. Illuminated by Rebecca Barrett and Lee Keenan’s rotating laser and concert lighting and costumed in Mieka van der Ploeg’s stylish, bright, jewel-toned state-of-the-art fashions, the production creates the look and mood of a combination techno dance club and high-fashion art gallery. Although some chairs are available, for this production the majority of the audience isn’t seated; instead they’re encouraged to stand and roam about the space wherever they wish “promenade style.” In addition to performing as art patrons and club dancers, the ensemble gently guides the voyeuristic audience safely out of the way of the actors and moving set pieces.

In this updated version of Wilde’s novel Dorian, shortly after arriving in the city, is thrust into the company of Basil, a talented  up-and-coming artist. The painter takes a liking to the handsome, young man and convinces Dorian to pose for him. Upon completion of the portrait and as a token of his idolization, Basil presents it to his muse. Dorian secretly makes a wish that he might always remain as handsome and youthful as the idealistic painting. Soon Harry, another new friend and a critic, introduces Dorian to the art world, saturated with drugs, booze and sex. Eventually he meets, becomes involved with and ultimately discards Harry and his society friends, including Harry’s cousin Gladys, their doctor friend Alan and a sassy, sexy erotic dancer named Sybil. As the years pass and his friends grow older, Dorian curiously remains handsome and youthful-looking. His increasingly hedonistic lifestyle, however, is absorbed by the portrait; and as Dorian grows progressively amoral and depraved the painting reflects the monster that he’s turned into, and the consequences aren’t pretty.

Cole Simon is an attractive and athletic Dorian, and his journey from shy newcomer to callous libertine is gradual but frightening. Patrick Andrews, whose professional credits range from TimeLine to the Goodman, is strong and captivating as Basil. The two actors, who share a blossoming but doomed relationship, complement each another, both physically and vocally. As Harry, Manny Buckley turns in a performance that masters the askance look and the sarcastic quip (“I have no imagination; that’s why I’m a critic”). Kelley Abell stands out among this cast as Sybil, the dancer and only woman to capture Dorian’s heart, but who’s ultimately driven to despair. Talented and versatile Alex Weisman creates Alan, a young medical student secretly and painfully in love with Dorian, and who suffers for his infatuation. And Lauren Pizzi is perfection as Gladys, the haughty social butterfly who knows everyone.

Tommy Rapley’s stellar production is a living entity. It’s an exciting, continually moving mass of light, sound and writhing flesh. Rapley has not only created a beautiful, sensual theatrical thriller, especially adapted for today’s audiences, but he’s directed and choreographed it with great skill, sensitivity and erotic athleticism. As Jeff Klapperich’s technically-created portrait continues to erode with Dorian’s sins, the audience grows ever aware of the horror evolving from a young man’s innocent wish. It’s hard to believe that Wilde’s Victorian novel, so similar to Stevenson’s Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, was created over a hundred years ago. It’s impact, as seen in this production, is every bit as powerful today.



Katy Walsh, TheFourthWalsh.com - "This is 2/3 of a review.  The House has produced its current production in promenade.  There are limited seats available at the base of the thrust-style stage.  The rest of the audience stands, leans and moves throughout the show.  The ambitious idea lends itself to a nightclub venue.  That’s both good and bad.  The good part is it recreates “the scene” vibe of Dorian’s social life.  The bad parts are the same as in any nightclub. There are too many people competing for a space on the dance floor.  The tall obtuse ones are rewarded with their cock block moves. The others helplessly gawk from the sidelines.  I was among the height-challenged wallflowers.  I missed about a 1/3 of the show.


What I did see was a marveling spectacle.  Adapter, director and choreographer Tommy Rapley modernizes Oscar Wilde’s “The Picture of Dorian Gray.”  Rapley and Ben Lobpries co-wrote DORIAN, a story about a hot model turned club kid.  As Dorian plummets into the superficial world of booze, sex and drugs, his hardcore lifestyle doesn’t taint his good looks.  He is ageless.  His portrait isn’t as fortunate.  The picture reflects his progressive debauchery.   


Rapley’s choreography is provocative.  The brawny Cole Simon (Dorian) and slight Patrick Andrews (Basil) smolder as a dance pair.  Their physicality captivates as they intertwine in the air, on the floor, over the bar. It is steamy erotica.  Kelley Abell (Sybil) also brings the heat in an alluring striptease.  As the chorus removes her clothes, they paint her in blacklight fluorescents.  At the end, she is poignantly tied with barbed wire ribbons. In another scene showcasing Rapley’s innovation, the buttoned-ed up Alex Weisman (Alan) parties his inhibitions off.  During the dance sequence, Weisman whirlwinds from sober to ecstasy to passed out.    

Rapley uses movement throughout the space as fluid storytelling.  That’s the wrinkle.  Whenever the action comes off the disco-like platform and down to the main floor, the visibility is obstructed.  There is a witty dinner scene that I watched like NPR.  I heard it and had to visualize it in my head. As soon as the table was set, a circle of 4-people deep surrounded it.  I listened to the hilarious Manny Buckley (Harry) lead the snarky banter. The House’s downstairs neighbors, The Hypocrites, have successfully produced many promenade shows.  Their success is built on a much more linear space and the brevity of their pieces.  The House space is too boxy to host a promenade.  And two hours is to long to stand and shuffle watching dance. Rapley’s DORIAN would be better viewed in seats and in the round.  This cast is sublime and I wished I had seen more of them".




A WILD(E) ADAPTATION - Lawrence Bommer, www.StageandCinema.com - "A spectacle that swirls and thrills, The House Theatre of Chicago’s Dorian has updated Oscar Wilde’s classic cautionary tale from Victorian music halls to today’s club scene. Their “promenade” production also transforms an ambulatory audience into vintage voyeurs, even stalkers. As they perambulate around the capacious Chopin stage (a seating area is also available), theatergoers, many attractive enough on opening night to be Dorian’s cohorts, closely observe Wilde’s still-powerful parable of the invisibility of corruption.


Profanely re-imagined by writers Ben Lobpries and Tommy Rapley (who also directed and choreographed), with stunning video portraiture by Jeff Klapperich and a kick-ass, adrenaline-pumping score by Kevin O’Donnell, The Picture of Dorian Gray takes on a 2014 intensity (you can almost leave out the “r” in “Gray”). It’s as if Project Runway ran straight–so to speak–onto the highway to hell. Beautiful Dorian Gray’s rush to ruin seems all the more unstoppable as migrating audience members, creating their own gapers’ blocks as they gawk in wonder, are helpless to intervene.

 

Under Collette Pollard’s illuminated columns and flanked by an increasingly deformed and demented portrait of Dorian (created from ceramics and other concrete objects and reflecting the title character’s devolution into malice and murder), the 12-member ensemble erupt into breakout dance binges. Eerily lit by Rebecca R. Barrett and Lee Keenan, they move platforms about to provide essential sight lines for the stirring action. Above all, they manically mimic the outsized emotions triggered by Dorian’s descent into homegrown damnation.

 

For all the modernizing that speeds the story (two hours in two acts with an on-stage cash bar intermission), it’s true to Wilde’s alternately decadent and edifying lesson in limitations. Under the malign influence of cynical, foul-mouthed art critic Lord Henry (here Manny Buckley’s salacious Harry), handsome Dorian (Cole Simon, picture perfect in face) becomes a tabula rasa for hedonistic abandon. Simon’s swinger slowly succumbs to a toxic narcissism that makes him capable of anything.


.The decay, of course, is superbly symbolized by the infamous portrait created by Basil (Patrick Andrews, excellent as Dorian’s besotted artist adorer). The canvas reflects Dorian’s wickedness even as the real boy’s perfect face never ages over decades of debauchery. His birth scar disappears and all wounds fade into flawless flesh.
The downside is that Dorian’s fountain of youth bubbles over in blood.

Completing a coterie who become collateral damage in ageless Dorian’s race to wretchedness is pathetic physician Alan (Alex Weisman), like Basil an all-too-willing victim. Likewise, Kelley Abell’s doomed Sybil, a feckless actress, becomes Dorian’s template for homicide and her daughter Isabelle (lovely Ally Carey) becomes Dorian’s last casualty. Finally, Gladys (Lauren Pizzi), an art-scene maven, is clueless to the cruelty around her. Seven athletic Patrick Andrews and Cole Simon in DORIAN by the House Theatre of Chicago.performers back up the dirty deeds with lascivious leaps, choreographed crowd control, and contagious dances of death.

Of course, there remain two things a live production can never deliver in Oscar’s horror story—how everyone but Dorian ages over the years and how Dorian’s face will suddenly and finally reflect his evil portrait. All but making up for this, however, are the increasingly terrifying alterations in Basil’s all-telling (video) painting. These pixels deliver as manic a performance as any on stage".





Dorian at House Theatre: It's All About the Movement - by  Nancy Bishop, www.GapersBlock.com.  - "The House Theatre opened its new show this week and it pulsates with light, sound, color and movement. Dorian is an adaptation of Oscar Wilde's 1890 novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, written by Ben Lobpries and Tommy Rapley and directed by Rapley.

The well-known story of Dorian--the man who didn't age while his portrait did--is beautifully staged in "promenade style" by House. The main-floor theater space at Chopin Theatre is opened up by eliminating all but a few rows of seats. The stage becomes an art gallery, and sometimes a performance or a club scene, with members of the audience mingling with the actors.

Basil, the artist who paints the portrait and falls in love with his subject, is played by the talented Chicago actor Patrick Andrews. Dorian is played by Cole Simon, a relative newcomer to Chicago, just as his character is a newcomer to the art and social scene in the play. Dorian begins as a rather shy and naïve person and becomes arrogant and self-centered as praise is heaped on his beauty. Years after the portrait is painted, his friends have aged, but Dorian appears the same, while the portrait, hidden from view, takes on strange characteristics.

Harry, known as Lord Henry Wotton in Wilde's novel, is played with great wit, sarcasm and charm by Manny Buckley. Some of his comments reflect Wilde's. When asked if he is an artist, Harry replies, "No, I have no imagination. That's why I'm a critic."

Dorian's other friends and sometimes lovers are effectively played by Alex Weisman, Kelley Abell, Ally Carey and Lauren Pizzi. Other ensemble members are Ben Burke, Bryan Conner, Blake McKay, Monica Thomas and Donnell Williams. The ensemble keeps the action lively and manages to keep the "promenading" audience members moving at the right times.

While the acting is excellent by the entire cast, the setting and choreography almost overwhelm them. Kevin O'Donnell's pulsating techno music is heard through much of the play, accompanying Rapley's choreographed scenes. In particular, the love scenes between Basil and Dorian are elegantly expressed in fluid dance movements. The lighting design by Rebecca A. Barrett and Lee Keenan is an essential part of Collette Pollard's scenic design. She defines the stage area with three white columns on each side, which are washed with light and color. Large white cubes are moved around to create tables, platforms and performance stages. The color scheme created by Mieka van der Ploeg's costumes is key to the vibrancy of the play. The actors are dressed in vivid reds, blues, aquas, fuchsias, greens and yellows--until the final memorial service scene where all appear in blacks and grays.

The famous portrait is a large framed image at the end of the stage. Jeff Klapperich created the versions of the portrait as a clay model, which was photographed through painted masks. It is stunning work, but visually, it appears much like an electronically manipulated image, so playgoers may not appreciate all the creative effort that went into "the picture of Dorian Gray."

Most of the actors used an odd gestural affectation--a movement sweeping hand over head--usually when drinking. The gesture was repetitious and artificial and ultimately irritating.

An earlier version of Dorian by Lobpries and Rapley was workshopped at the former Bailiwick Repertory Theatre in 2006.

This is not a play to attend because you love the writing of Oscar Wilde, notably in his fabulous plays like Lady Windermere's Fan, A Woman of No Importance, Salomé, An Ideal Husband, and The Importance of Being Earnest, all written in the 1890s. The Picture of Dorian Gray, his only novel, is complex and challenging--and filled with smart, witty dialogue, but you won't find much of that complexity or dialogue in Dorian."







From House Theatre - Oscar Wilde’s love/hate affair with youth and beauty is captured in this visually arresting contemporary adaptation. House Company Members Director/Choreographer Tommy Rapley, Co-Writer Ben Lobpries and Composer Kevin O’Donnell seamlessly blend theatre and dance, revealing the unsightly truth behind each character’s outer beauty. Dorian Gray’s ill-fated portrait is a character who comes vividly to life, only to encourage his wicked and sexually irreverent indulgences.

Author
By Ben Lobpries and Tommy Rapley based on the novel

Director
Tommy Rapley

Performers
Patrick Andrews; Kelley Abell; Manny Buckley; Blake McKay; Lauren Pizzi; Cole Simon; Monica Thomas; Ben Burke; Ally Carey; Bryan Conner; Alex Weisman; Donnell Williams

Production
Choregraphy - Tommy Rapley; Scenic Designer - Collette Pollard; Co-Light Designer/Projectionish - Lee Keenan; Co Light Designer - Rebecca Barrett; Composer/Sound Designer - Kevin O'Donnell; Costume Designer - Mieka van der Ploeg; Props Designer - Jamie Karas; Stage Manager - Keely Haddad-Null; Portrait Artist - Jeff Klapperich;

Tags: Theater, American, 2014