Emmy Award-winner Sarah Snook (Acting, 2008) and visionary Director Kip Williams (Directing, 2009), along with many talented NIDA alumni across creative departments behind the scenes, have brought Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray to Broadway, New York.
After acclaimed runs in Sydney, across Australia, and on London’s West End, the groundbreaking adaptation has Sarah seamlessly transition between 26 different characters through the weaving of onstage performance, with live and pre-recorded video.
Kip’s powerhouse production originally premiered at Sydney Theatre Company in 2020, starring Eryn Jean Norvill in the title role, before teaming up with the Michael Cassel Group for a national tour, including Nikki Shiels as the alternate performer for the lead character. In 2024, Sarah took over the role for the London season at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, earning an Olivier Award for her performance before bringing the production to Broadway in March 2025.
Currently running at the Music Box Theatre, US critics reviews have praised the production:
“Sarah Snook from “Succession” is taking her own solo virtuosic turn, playing all twenty-six characters in an exquisite multimedia adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s “The Picture of Dorian Gray.” If you can see only one new piece this season, make it this perception-altering adaptation, directed by Kip Williams, an Australian megatalent exploring the cutting edge of onstage video.” Helen Shaw, The New Yorker
“Fast, clever, delicious, and performed by Snook with the giddy virtuosity of Simone Biles executing a floor routine, it reaches the gut and the heart lightly, thrusting like a fencer, by way of its playfulness and spectacle.” Sara Holdren, Vulture.
“Equal parts acting masterclass, tech wizardry, illusion and clockwork stage management, all costumed and set designed with the wit and colour schemes of the most vivid Cindy Sherman photographs, Dorian Gray marks audacious Broadway debuts by both Snook and director-adaptor Kip Williams.” Greg Evans, Deadline.
Many NIDA alumni have lent their talents to telling this timeless tale throughout its national and international runs, with some of the creatives and crew working across all productions. As well as Sarah and Kip, Video Designer David Bergman (Technical Production, 2008), Dramaturg Paige Rattray (Directing, 2009) and Associate Director Tait De Lorenzo (Directing, 2019) were part of the London and New York creative teams, with composer and sound designer Clemence Williams (Directing, 2016), David and Paige having worked on each season since 2020. Artistry also abounds in the complex live video production with Camera Captain, Ben Sheen (Directing, 2016), who has led a performative camera team to capture the drama since 2020, and Sound Design Associate Daniel Herten (Technical Theatre and Stage Management, 2021) who has joined the Broadway production having previously crewed the Auckland shows.
With its innovative fusion of cutting-edge technology and traditional theatre, Kip’s adaptation of The Picture of Dorian Gray has proven that this Australian-born masterpiece resonates with audiences around the world. This is a landmark achievement in contemporary theatre, and NIDA wishes to congratulate the cast as well as the entire crew and creative teams involved in each production for their success.
**Header image: Sarah Snook (Acting, 2008) from The Picture of Dorian Gray with wardrobe by Jude Loxley (Production Crafts, 2007). Photographed by Jesse Lizotte. Credit: Vogue Magazine.