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 theme in "The Picture of Dorian Gray" (1891) is aestheticism and its conceptual relation to living a double life. Throughout the story, the narrative presents aestheticism as an absurd abstraction, which disillusions more than it dignifies the concept of Beauty. Despite Dorian being a hedonist, when Basil accuses him of making a "by-word" of the name of Lord Henry's sister, Dorian curtly replies, "Take care, Basil. You go too far ..."; thus, in Victorian society, public image and social standing do matter to Dorian. Yet, Wilde highlights the protagonist's hedonism: Dorian enjoyed "keenly the terrible pleasure of a double life",