The Picture of Dorian Gray (Das Bildnis des Dorian Gray)

Who am I? And who am I allowed to be? Dorian Gray is young, handsome, desired. Anything he doesn’t like is put out of sight – into a painting that is hidden from public view and grows older, uglier, withers in his place. Oscar Wilde’s novel tells the story of a life that only works as long as it denies itself and does not allow any flaws. Of desire that must be repressed and a society that only tolerates deviance as pretence. But Dorian’s dilemma is not only a Victorian one: it’s just that today we mirror ourselves in feeds, selfies and statistics. We filter our bodies, our contradictions, our stories. Anyone who doesn’t engage in this is forgotten. Anyone who stands out too much is rejected.  

The Norwegian-Finnish director Heiki Riipinen, who was a participant in the second year of the WORX young directors programme at the Berliner Ensemble, brings the "Das Bildnis des Dorian Gray" ("The Picture of Dorian Gray") to the stage as a queer, mythical play. From decadence to digitality, from visibility to loss of self, he and his team ask: What are the costs of being yourself? And what are the costs of forgetting yourself?