Believe me, no civilised man ever regrets a pleasure...As London slides from one century into the next, a young man is cursed with the uncanny ability to remain both young and beautiful while descending into a life of heartless debauchery. With its glittering dialogue, provocative imagery and radical questioning of sexual and moral freedoms all brought sharply into focus by this brand-new adaptation, Oscar Wilde s infamous parable has lost none of its power to provoke and disturb.Using Wilde s original words, a company of sixteen actors and all of adaptor Neil Bartlett s trademark theatricality, this new stage version of Wilde s black-hearted parable was commissioned by and first produced at the Abbey Theatre, Ireland s national theatre in the autumn season of 2012.