Neil Bartlett is one of his generation's most respected and innovative theatre directors. His highly individual translations of French and German classical theatre, and charcteristically theatrical adaptations of Dickens, most of them originated while he was Artistic Director of the Lyric Hammersmith in London, have been played around the world. His plays have premiered at the Royal Court, at the Manchester International Festival and at the National Theatre in London.

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.