Dorian Gray (Bourne) Dorian Gray (Bourne) Matthew Bourne's "Dorian Gray" is a contemporary dance adaptation of Oscar Wilde's novel, "The Picture of Dorian Gray", by choreographer Matthew Bourne. The show made its debut in August 2008 at the Edinburgh International Festival and transferred to Sadler's Wells Theatre in London in September 2008. The music was composed by Terry Davies for a rock quintet directed from the keyboard. The set and costumes were designed by Lez Brotherston. Various changes are made to the story, which Bourne sets in the modern fashion industry. In this setting, Dorian Gray is a model for a perfume promotion
The Picture of Dorian Gray made excisions of some of the most controversial material when revising and lengthening the story for book publication the following year. The longer and revised version of "The Picture of Dorian Gray" published in book form in 1891 featured an aphoristic preface—a defence of the artist's rights and of art for art's sake—based in part on his press defences of the novel the previous year. The content, style, and presentation of the preface made it famous in its own right, as a literary and artistic manifesto. In April 1891, the publishing firm of Ward, Lock and Company, who had distributed