Florence wrote the play ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’ based on the classic Oscar Wilde novel but influenced by Artaud’s style. Florence joined forces with Millie in Year 12 to also co-direct the play and audiences were impressed by the outstanding performances from students in Year 10 and Year 12.

We spoke to Florence about the experience of bringing her play to the stage:

“I adapted the original, uncensored 13 chapter version of ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’ for the stage during Year 11, with the overall goal of translating a work of such beauty, the manifesto for Wilde’s aestheticism movement, into something visual and three dimensional – a novella already deeply imbued with a sense of drama and spectacle.

I decided the theatrical style much later, and placed it in an ambiguous time setting, taking influence from the intended effects of the Theatre of Cruelty in order to convey sentiments expressed in Wilde’s words, while simultaneously communicating with an audience through intense image and sound, in order to demonstrate the visceral intensity of hedonistic living and its consequences in 1890s London.

Using a smaller, older cast allowed me to do this, and break from the confines of naturalistic acting that is often not as stimulating when bringing the words of a renowned work of literature to life.

The directorial process allowed me to learn a lot about how much goes into putting on a show, and I was able to cast, rehearse and produce with the help of my very talented peers, who made the rehearsal process fun and relaxed, and who helped to rapidly develop the project and collaboratively create a show we were all very excited to perform in only 4 months.”