On April 12 and 13, the Dickinson Community Players (DCP) put on “The Picture of Dorian Gray,” an adaptation of the classic novel of the same name written by Oscar Wilde. The stage adaptation, written by Merlin Holland and John O’Connor, is a contemporary take on the once controversial novel, now hailed as one of the classics in Gothic literature. The DCP collaborated with the Binghamton Identity Youth Center. This youth center promotes a safe space for LGBTQ+ youth in the community, as 30 percent of the proceeds from the tickets were donated to support the youth center.

The play follows the titular character, Dorian Gray, as he indulges in a life filled with hedonistic abandonment with no consequence to his physical form, leaving him ageless. However, his portrait faces the consequences of his chaotic lifestyle, as with each sinful act he commits, his portrait ages and decays while his physical body remains intact. While loyal to its roots, the play focuses on aspects of the novel that had to be censored when it was published back in 1890.

Much of the focus of the play was placed on the tumultuous relationship between Dorian Gray and Basil Hallward, played by Kedra Fowler, a senior double-majoring in English and Africana studies. On stage, Basil’s devotion to Dorian Gray was evident to everyone in the audience, with much of the humor of the play being aimed at Basil’s advances being constantly rejected by an unassuming Dorian Gray. Fowler executed much of the devotion via longing gazes and words of praise to Dorian Gray, which was how the author of the novel, Oscar Wilde, had originally intended to portray the dynamic between the two characters.

Lyd Wyble, who played the lead role of Dorian Gray and is a junior majoring in mathematics, had much to share about the adaptation of the classic novel into a play.

“This version of the play was actually co-authored by Oscar Wilde’s grandson,” Wyble wrote in an email. “It includes content, particularly Basil’s sexuality, that Wilde had to remove from the original publication.”

Wyble further expressed their reasoning behind why putting on the play was so important, and how they prepared themselves to take on the lead role.

“There’s something very comforting about telling Wilde’s story the way that he had originally intended,” Wyble wrote. “I’m very grateful that we can portray an identity that he wasn’t able to express in his time […] Learning to act as Dorian was something I struggled with until practically opening night. There’s an entire life to share in two hours — naïveté and romance and corruption and redemption. A lot of people see ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’ as a story about corruption, but I think the path to redemption is what matters. It’s ultimately a story about someone trying to be better. There’s nothing more human than that. I wanted to convey that humanity in my acting, and hopefully I portray a Dorian that the audience can see themselves in.”

The play itself was a rollercoaster of emotions, as the actors quickly went from acting out emotional scenes to comedic scenes that left the audience in stitches. While the play is an exploration into the inner turmoil that the character of Dorian Gray goes through, it also focuses on the relationships between each of the characters, as the actors ardently interact with each other on stage to show the true extent of the impact that Dorian Gray had on the lives of their characters.

The showstopper of the night was not only Wyble’s performance, but the portrait of Dorian Gray itself. Following the novel’s description, different versions of the portrait of Dorian Gray were present throughout the play, as it went from a clear version of Dorian Gray at the beginning to an old and withered depiction of the character by the time the play ended. The audience delighted in each switch of the portrait between scenes, as it was a way for the audience to note both the passage of time and the true extent of Dorian Gray’s sins.

Shirley Wang, a sophomore majoring in computer science, was in charge of the spotlight of the show. When asked about how the DCP tackled their portrayal of the portrait, they explained the surprisingly simple approach to the portrait.

“We had about four different versions of the portrait,” Wang said. “We used photo editing in order to give the portrait the look of an aged oil painting.”

Alexandr Smalyuk, the director and a junior majoring in history, shared his thoughts on the most challenging part of preparing for the play.

“The most challenging part of the show was getting the tech closet door to open in the multipurpose room so we could get all of the stuff that we needed for the play,” Smalyuk said.

Smalyuk went on to describe the feeling of seeing the show come to life.

“The highlight of my experience was really seeing the show on stage for the first time,” Smalyuk said. “Seeing all of the costumes, props and all of the sets was when I realized that we made it so far from where we started in a classroom wing room with a couple of people and having to move back and forth between locations to having an actual show that truly looks fantastic.”

At the end of the night, the audience and the cast mingled, as praises and congratulations were issued to the actors for their final performance of the play. Cast members were congratulated by the audience for their passionate performances, and the stage and tech crew were praised for their quick and efficient work when it came to changing the set props needed for each scene.

Kate Langsdorf, a junior double-majoring in Asian and Asian American studies and philosophy, politics and law, was one of many attendees of the play’s final show. She expressed her delight in getting to see the classic novel on stage.

“Having read the book before, the best part of the show was how much emotion the actors put into their roles,” Langsdorf said. “I hadn’t realized how emotion was in it. [The actors] brought so much emotion and they made it so entertaining. It was a really incredible experience.”

All in all, the DCP certainly put on another successful play that Binghamton students and members of the community were able to enjoy and learn from with their rendition of “The Picture of Dorian Gray.”