https://brightonfestival.org/event/13570/creation_pictures_for_dorian/
Creation (Pictures for Dorian), Gob Squad. The Attenborough Centre for the Creative Arts
I’m lucky. The prime years of my youth are behind me now but I’m ageing well. At least that’s what I’d like to believe.
It’s easy to scorn the younger, millennial generation. Permanently buried in their devices. Carefully curating their online lives. Being sure to perfectly capture every moment before it’s gone. Sorry, that’s me again.
It’s easy to forget that the story of the quest for eternal youth is one that has played out many times before. Facebook and Instagram have taken over from sketches and portraits and our pictures can make us look the way we want with a few swipes of the finger, rather than a few hours with a paintbrush. But what do we sacrifice when we demand to hang on to youthfulness?
Gob Squad has reinvented The Picture of Dorian Gray in their witty and thought-provoking performance in a way that I’m sure that Wilde would appreciate.
We begin with an artist’s dialogue. A conversation in amongst a flurry of ideas while looking mournfully at the passing of beauty with age. Creation (Pictures for Dorian) brings us reflections on sex, sexuality and sensuality along with our attitudes on youth. It’s a well-paced and very well-produced performance, packed with clever nods to its origins without being derivative. For me, this ends with a poignant question. When I’m tempted to look at millennials with derision while they carefully craft their online lives, am I sneering at their actions or sneering at the youth they still possess?
Creation is captivating from start to finish and I’m sure the Brighton Festival is proud to have this in this year’s line-up. Creation (Pictures for Dorian) contains humor, nudity and reflection, and is on at the Attenborough Centre for the Creative Arts (University of Sussex) until Sunday 27th May.
