Sarah Snook, the acclaimed actress from Succession, is transitioning back to theater, potentially to grace both London and Broadway stages. She is stepping into an ambitious adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s iconic work, The Picture of Dorian Gray – a story of a picture that ages while its model stays eternally youthful.
Snook, celebrated for her Emmy-nominated performance, is set to tackle the monumental challenge of depicting all 26 characters in Dorian Gray. This remarkable feat will be staged at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, located in the heart of London’s West End. The limited season will span twelve weeks, starting from January 2024.
The task is indeed herculean for a solo performer who will need to stay on stage for two unbroken hours.
The Sydney Theatre Company’s artistic director, Kip Williams, crafted this unique show, which made its debut in Sydney. There, actress Eryn Jean Norvill introduced the role, or rather roles, given the multitude of characters.
Insiders often label the show as “cine-theatre.” In preparation for the performance, Snook will be filming characters and subsequently interacting with them on stage. The performance in Sydney was highly praised, with the stage described as brimming with screens, showing the actress in dialogue with various filmed versions of herself.
Snook received deserved acclaim for her manipulative role as Shiv Roy in HBO’s Succession, which concluded with its fourth season in May. Not many are aware that she is also an exceptional theater performer. Her performance in Ibsen’s The Master Builder, alongside Ralph Fiennes at the Old Vic, is a testament to that.
In a delightful twist, Jeremy Strong, known for his role as Shiv’s older brother, Kendall Roy, will lead a revival of Ibsen’s An Enemy of the People on Broadway in early 2024, with Amy Herzog and Sam Gold handling the adaptation and direction, respectively.
Other fictional members of the Roy clan are set to take on theater roles:
Brian Cox, who portrayed the Roy family patriarch, Logan Roy, is set to star with Patricia Clarkson in Eugene O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey Into Night at Wyndham’s Theatre in London, scheduled from March 19 to June 8. An impressive 75 percent of the seats are already sold, a remarkable achievement for a four-act marathon drama.
Harriet Walter, Logan’s ex-wife and Waystar shareholder Lady Caroline (Shiv’s mother) on Succession, is revisiting the classics. She’s set to lead a revival of Federico Garcia Lorca’s The House of Bernardo Alba at the National Theatre’s Lyttelton house, commencing this November, adapted by Alice Birch.
Now, all that remains is for Kieran Culkin to be cast in a Greek tragedy about a young man with mother issues, and the Roy theater company would be complete.
The production of The Picture of Dorian Gray in London is an expensive venture, requiring a well-known face to secure its financial return. Snook fits the bill, especially considering her significant role in the fourth season of Succession.
It is quite interesting to see Snook opt for Dorian Gray, an epitome of late-Victorian Gothic fiction that delves into the depths of illicit desires and pleasures in 1890’s London, which parallels themes in Succession.
If the show gains popularity in London, a Broadway season could be on the horizon. However, any potential relocation depends on Snook and her family, as she recently became a mother.
Producers Michael Cassel and Adam Kenwright have scheduled the play to run at the Haymarket from January 23 to April 13.
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