IU play to spotlight in Ireland

In a single production, actors sing Britney Spears’ “Toxic,” walk on chairs and do somersaults without a single costume change or blackout.

But that is just a small aspect of what makes IU independent theater project “A Picture (of Dorian Gray),” based on Oscar Wilde’s novel, a unique production. The play recently was accepted into the International Gay Theatre Festival in Dublin, which will take place May 11 to 17.

The cast includes IU undergraduates Miles Heymann, Lawrence Evans and Hanna Dillon. There will be a free Bloomington performance, but donations will be accepted in hopes of raising funds for their trip, Dillon said.

“It’s not that we’re asking people to pay for our plane tickets,” Dillon said. “I mean, this is our future. This is a brilliant opportunity for undergraduates and for people who are starting off in this field. We’re going to be working with professionals from around the world.”

The development of the production was not typical. Evans and Heymann did not even have to audition. Instead, director Jonathon Courtemanche approached them about the project.

“The reason that he gave me, for why he wanted me, was because I was so comfortable with my sexuality,” Evans said. “Because I wear makeup to school ... girl clothes, all of that jazz.”

When a senior quit her part as the female role, Dillon said she didn’t hesitate to audition. There was no question that she was the right person for the part, Heymann said.

“I just got naked for everybody,” Dillon said. “And they were like, ‘She’s willing to do that. Let’s put her in the show.’”

Evans and Heymann also assisted writer Neal Utterback with some of the script development. Utterback gave them writing prompts, had them record a dream journal and improvise chapters of the novel to create “slides,” Evans said. The slides serve as transitions or short scenes in the show, he said.

The play moves back and forth between the Dorian story and their perception of the Dorian story, Dillon said. Wilde’s story surrounds the main characters Dorian Gray, Lord Henry Wotton and Basil Hallward. Dorian begins as an innocent, young, handsome man who is quickly manipulated by Lord Henry. Every cast member plays every role and costumes consist of jeans, T-shirts and sunglasses.

“Anytime we’re doing ‘Dorian Gray,’ we’re telling that story. You’ll see us wearing sunglasses,” Heymann said, “Anytime you see us and we’re not wearing sunglasses, we’re telling our story.”

As stories and roles change, the play may be difficult for audiences to understand, members of the cast said.

“There are going to be people who get every single chapter and every single zoom-out and there are going to be people who get kind of the moral of the story and sort of understand what’s going on but don’t know why they understand,” Dillon said with a laugh. “We don’t even get all of it.”

Heymann said he hopes people of all backgrounds will come to see the performance.

“This show is not necessarily a homosexual play,” Heymann said. “I think if we wanted it to be even more of a homosexual play, we would have cast another guy as the third role. But I think we wanted a female to balance out the whole gender issues and how gender effects different people ... and how sexuality isn’t always so black and white.”

But at the end of the day, the opportunity to perform in an international theater festival is truly a dream.

“I mean, who are we to be involved in this?” Dillon said. “We’re dreaming so big that it’s coming true.”