Video of London 1896

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSzl8SWeeOg

March 20th Update

Friday 18 - Sunday 20

Ran through Sibyl Vane's song Obsess Over You with Ashleigh Moore. I learned that the key was not suited to a woman so I will be transposing the song down. The more I think about this song the moor I question how I should really approach Dorian and Sibyl's relationship. The song is fun and catchy but as of now it doesn't feel appropriate. I am currently working on their date scene. I want their feelings (at least Sibyl's) to be very genuine. The audience should root for the two of them.

I rewrote the opening. Basil comes onstage and begins the show with a new song:

Basil:

I have seen an Angel standing before me naked.

He took away my pain.

Forbidden I made love to an Angel.

He turned my head toward the moonlight and

told me I was beautiful.

I gave myself to an Angel.

He touched me where the truth burned and

released my inner demons to the world.

And what I saw inside this Angel was a sanctuary

to run to in despair.

So then I painted an Angel.

I'm hoping this will establish Basil's feelings for Dorian from the start of the play so that the feelings of jealousy he feels are better understood.

Even things that are true cannot be proved

A large issue in this piece will revolve around sexuality. The characters Basil, Harry, and Dorian are all gay or partake in homosexual sex. However, all these men also carry public lives to cover this private aspect of their life. Harry has a wife, Dorian pursues Sibyl, and Basil is hidden behind his canvas.

A dear friend of mine brought up the issue of homosexuality to me last night. He informed me that he believed homosexuality is a choice. I must preface this with the fact that this friend is an ally of the Queer community. He is One Hundred Percent for Gay Rights. Still, my initial response is to defend myself. How dare you tell me that my sexuality is a choice! I responded with the usual response to this question. I asked him, "Did you choose to be straight?". He thought for a moment and said, "Yes. I think I did." The conversation went on and ended with both of us being a bit more informed of each other's lives, but I don't feel we swayed each other either way.

But it got me thinking. Does Dorian choose to be gay? Does Dorian really love anyone? Is he a sociopath? Does he have feelings for Basil that he suppresses? Can a Narcissus decide his sexuality? Personally, I don't think so. I believe the character of Dorian is completely Pan-Sexual, and while he may have strong feelings for Basil he never let's himself fall for him. Basil painted Dorian, but Harry is the one who shapes him. Basil gives Dorian Immortality, but Harry gives him Life. All of Dorian's feelings for these people are through the filter of what they have done for him.

I wrote a new opening for the show that I feel achieves everything I wanted to in the first ten minutes in one song and more. Basil comes out and sings to the audience of an Angel that has shown him love. That Angel is Dorian. This way we are given exposition about Dorian and Basil's relationship and are informed that they have had sexual intercourse prior to the play beginning. This is not something that happens in the book but I really wanted to establish Basil as a key component in telling the story. With this as the opening, we will feel Basil's jealousy instantly when Lord Henry is flirting with Dorian.

Also, tomorrow morning I will be working with Ashleigh Moore on some of Sibyl Vane's songs to make sure my keys are appropriate for a woman.

The Importance of Being Narcissistic

The legend of Narcissus is an important part of this story for me. I believe Dorian is very much his mirror and Basil could easily be substituted with Echo.

THE LEGEND OF NARCISSUS

In Greek mythology Echo was a wood nymph who loved a youth by the name of Narcissus. He was a beautiful creature loved by many but Narcissus loved no one. He enjoyed attention, praise and envy. In Narcissus' eyes nobody matched him and as such he considered none were worthy of him.

Echo's passion for Narcissus was equaled only by her passion for talking as she always had to have the last word. One day she enabled the escape of the goddess Juno's adulterous husband by engaging Juno in conversation. On finding out Echo's treachery Juno cursed Echo by removing her voice with the exception that she could only speak that which was spoken to her.

Echo often waited in the woods to see Narcissus hoping for a chance to be noticed. One day as she lingered in the bushes he heard her footsteps and called out “Who's here?” Echo replied “Here!” Narcissus called again "Come", Echo replied "Come!". Narcissus called once more “Why do you shun me?... Let us join one another.” Echo was overjoyed that Narcissus had asked her to join him. She longed to tell him who she was and of all the love she had for him in her heart but she could not speak. She ran towards him and threw herself upon him.

Narcissus became angry “Hands off! I would rather die than you should have me!” and threw Echo to the ground. Echo left the woods a ruin, her heart broken. Ashamed she ran away to live in the mountains yearning for a love that would never be returned. The grief killed her. Her body became one with the mountain stone. All that remained was her voice which replied in kind when others spoke.

Narcissus continued to attract many nymphs all of whom he briefly entertained before scorning and refusing them. The gods grew tired of his behaviour and cursed Narcissus. They wanted him to know what it felt like to love and never be loved. They made it so there was only one whom he would love, someone who was not real and could never love him back.

One day whilst out enjoying the sunshine Narcissus came upon a pool of water. As he gazed into it he caught a glimpse of what he thought was a beautiful water spirit. He did not recognise his own reflection and was immediately enamoured. Narcissus bent down his head to kiss the vision. As he did so the reflection mimicked his actions. Taking this as a sign of reciprocation Narcissus reached into the pool to draw the water spirit to him. The water displaced and the vision was gone. He panicked, where had his love gone? When the water became calm the water spirit returned. “Why, beautiful being, do you shun me? Surely my face is not one to repel you. The nymphs love me, and you yourself look not indifferent upon me. When I stretch forth my arms you do the same; and you smile upon me and answer my beckonings with the like.” Again he reached out and again his love disappeared. Frightened to touch the water Narcissus lay still by the pool gazing in to the eyes of his vision.

He cried in frustration. As he did so Echo also cried. He did not move, he did not eat or drink, he only suffered. As he pined he became gaunt loosing his beauty. The nymphs that loved him pleaded with him to come away from the pool. As they did so Echo also pleaded with him. He was transfixed; he wanted to stay there forever. Narcissus like Echo died with grief. His body disappeared and where his body once lay a flower grew in it's place. The nymphs mourned his death and as they mourned Echo also mourned.

Extract taken from "The Age of Fable" by Thomas Bulfinch were used in the story above.

Oscar Wilde responds to this legend in his poem:

THE DISCIPLE

When Narcissus died the pool of his pleasure changed from a cup of sweet waters into a cup of salt tears, and the Oreads came weeping through the woodland that they might sing to the pool and give it comfort.

And when they saw that the pool had changed from a cup of sweet waters into a cup of salt tears, they loosened the green tresses of their hair and cried to the pool and said, 'We do not wonder that you should mourn in this manner for Narcissus, so beautiful was he.'

'But was Narcissus beautiful?' said the pool.

'Who should know that better than you?' answered the Oreads. 'Us did he ever pass by, but you he sought for, and would lie on your banks and look down at you, and in the mirror of your waters he would mirror his own beauty.'

And the pool answered, 'But I loved Narcissus because, as he lay on my banks and looked down at me, in the mirror of his eyes I saw ever my own beauty mirrored.'

The artist is the creator of beautiful things...

Diversionary Theatre has commissioned me to adapt Oscar Wilde's book The Picture of Dorian Gray into a musical. I will be using this blog to track my progress and as a forum of information that I, and others interested in the project, can reference at any time.

To begin with I want to talk a little bit about my concept for the show. In reading The Picture of Dorian Gray I found there were many similarities between the character of Dorian Gray and many people I know personally, including myself. Dorian Gray lives in constant awareness of himself. He is incredibly vain and lives a life based on pleasure instead of morality. Now, I have never been one to judge. I don't pretend I live a "moral" life (whatever that means), and in my mind Dorian Gray is an honest being. He is simply corrupted by the ideals that surround him. He was not born a Narcissus but is instead made into one.

I've found that in our current day, Narcissism has been encouraged. How many of us were told at a very young age "you are special"? Or, "you can be whatever you want to be"? Indeed, I think were are all special and I believe we can be whatever we want to be. And while I took this advice more as an awakening to Individualism, I believe many others began to place themselves as more important than those around us. With the age of social networking websites upon us (I prefer to call them self advertising websites) i.e. Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Blogger (the one I'm fully partaking in now), it is socially acceptable to indulge in yourself; to indulge in how many friends you have; or stalk a person from the privacy of your couch without them ever knowing. We post videos on Youtube and watch how many people are watching us. This is The Age of Narcissism.

The thought that's been burning in my head lately comes from the idea of a painting. Dorian's painting ages while he does not. Dorian's sins are accounted for in his painting but not on his physical face. I then began to think, what if that is not true? What if it is only in Dorian's head that he is not aging while his painting is. Then that led me to the ever popular Facebook. Facebook is an online scrapbook of memories. An account of break-ups, photos, statuses, invites to parties, pictures of parties (some you'd like to forget). Our Facebook's are records of our every move. When something has been posted the whole world can see it. That is of course, unless we delete the post. Then it's gone forever, right?

Well that's what I thought. I deleted my Facebook yesterday and then got a notification telling me that if I ever want to come back everything will be the way I left it. I simply have to log back in with my email and password and it will be re-activated. All my photos, my statuses, and my friends will still be there. Awesome, I have an online self portrait, an account of the past four years forever online waiting for me the next time I decide to look at it. So to my fellow Dorian Gray's, it looks like we might live forever.

This connection stood out to me the first time I read Oscar Wilde's amazing book. I new that I wanted to adapt it one day but I didn't expect it would happen so soon. At first I thought about keeping it completely period but then I realized this story may be more relevant today then it ever was. The first song I wrote was "The Age of Narcissism". It's rock, hard rock. I knew then I wanted the characters to be living in 1896, but to be referencing things we use today. Telephones, movies, our distorted media, facebook, etc. I also wanted to explore the strong homosexual undercurrents within the book. You can expect all of this in my adaptation, that I promise.