Audiences and critics have marvelled at the stunning merger of film and live theatre taking place in The Picture of Dorian Gray, adapted for the stage and directed by the Sydney Theatre Company’s Kip Williams.
The return of stage shows after two years of COVID lockdowns has been reason enough to celebrate, but the spellbinding nature of this production – recently extended until August 7 – also feels like a hugely significant moment for Australian theatre.
Eryn Jean Norvill in The Picture of Dorian Gray.Credit:Daniel Boud
But while a lot of the focus, fairly, has been on the extraordinary stage production and Eryn Jean Norvill’s performance, there’s another element that deserves to be lauded: the show’s sound design.
Composer and sound designer Clemence Williams – who is now working with her brother, Kip, on the Sydney Theatre Company’s stage adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde – said audience reaction to the music in Dorian Gray has been thrilling.
Clemence Williams.Credit:
“I’ve been bombarded by audiences, asking me about the music in the show,” she said. “It references a lot of existing music, in addition to my score, and I get at least an email a week, if not more, asking me what is that final song in the show?
“I had to put a little note on my website, saying, ‘If you’re wondering what that song is, it’s this song. Hope you enjoyed the show’. It’s wonderful for people to be that engaged, and to want to engage with the work beyond the performance. It’s so special.”
A National Institute of Dramatic Art graduate, Williams also completed her Bachelor of Music at Sydney Conservatorium in 2014 and works in theatre and opera. When not writing scores, Williams is also a director with a long list of credits, including The Cherry Orchard, Chamber Pot Opera, Breaking Glass, Chorus, Unfinished Works, and Transience.
Williams’ role as composer and sound designer on The Picture of Dorian Gray earned her a Sydney Theatre Award nomination for best sound design, but working alongside actors Norvill, Nikki Shiels, her brother and the creative team was its own reward.
“I put my heart and soul into it,” she said. “So much of what I do is about serving the work, but also serving my colleagues, who are my friends, and who I deeply love. I just want to do the best for them, and it was my first chance [after COVID lockdowns] to not only be making a work, but to be back with my friends and family, sharing that love and that artistry.”
It’s very much been a collaboration … developing the musical language of the show.
“While there is a lot of original score in there, it’s about weaving together a history of music. We’re referencing Schumann and Debussy, Strauss, Mozart and Haydn … and then hurtling towards some kind of modern and contemporary landscape as well.”
Woven among Williams’ score are an array of well-known songs, and some lesser known, from the bubbly 1960s tune Gorgeous by composers Sheldon Harnick and Jerry Bock, to the pulsating disco of the ’70s.
Oscar Wilde’s story of Dorian Gray was first published in 1890, but the stage adaptation comes with a mighty dose of dance floor magic here, as Giorgio Moroder’s hit I Feel Love erupts on the stage. “That’s a prime example,” says Williams of weaving different moods into the score.
“Before we land in that track, there’s a butterfly flap of notes that sound vaguely familiar … a kind of staccato, and then we start to recognise it and bring in the beat before landing in the track. So, while I didn’t write that song, I arrange the kind of Dorian world, to land in that song.”
Under grey skies in Sydney this week, rain continued falling outside her home but after a tough couple of years, Williams is just thankful to be working.
“It’s a fantastic team and awesome to be working with that group again. After all that time off, all I want to do is live and breathe the work and never let it go.”
The Picture of Dorian Gray is at the Playhouse, Arts Centre, until August 7. artscentremelbourne.com.au
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