The Picture of Dorian Gray

Oscar Wilde's witty prose, so often shaped into lovely aphorisms, cries out to be read aloud. As a result, this fine adaptation has a lot to work with, and the members of the cast deliver it well, bringing out both the glittering surface and underlying emotional resonance of this macabre tale of forbidden passion and hidden sin. As fits the prose, the actors often seem to be declaiming, and each line can stand alone. This makes the work all the more apt for audio production. The only weakness is an excess of sound effects. They aren't bad, but they aren't needed. Wilde's wit is enough in itself. G.T.B. (c) AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine