OPINION: Each of the Video Clips in DORIAN GRAY is Technically a Quibi

by Zach Raffio. @zachraffio.

Broadway’s Sarah Snook-led The Picture of Dorian Gray is making waves for its use of live video and prerecorded footage, creating a multimedia retelling of the classic tale that has mystified audiences. That’s all fine and well, but I think we’re missing a big point here: each clip is technically a Quibi, and it’s time we pay that streaming service the respect it deserves.

For those unfamiliar (what, have you been living under a rock?) Quibi was a massively successful streaming service launched in Spring 2020, with its release marked as the only major news story of that period in time. Each piece of content was also named a “Quibi," categorized by the clip running 10 minutes or less in length and that’s kinda it.

So when Sarah Snook speaks to a recording of herself in a funky wig or a big shirt, is that clip not also a Quibi? Yeah, pretty hard to argue with me, huh? 

So if every clip is a Quibi, what does that make the play as a whole? I’ll tell you - and I’ll do it super loud while we’re at this baby shower. 

It makes it innovative, sharp, dangerous, and the most shocking period since those weird few weeks in 2020 where people were wearing masks (it wasn’t THAT cold out, guys).

This isn’t Broadway’s first run-in with the big Quib, however. Jamie Lloyd’s Sunset BLVD. received similar acclaim for its multimedia facets, which I personally consider to just be live, black & white Quibis. 

Ivo van Hove has been making stage Quibis for years, and what as the Disney+ Hamilton proshot if not 15 Quibis all stacked up on one another? By the way, is there a drink minimum at this baby shower?

So, in a Broadway season that has brought us 28 productions - many original works from exciting new voices - I think it’s important to remember that Quibi is here to stay, and it’s time we adapt our stage work to fit this new zeitgeistial juggernaut, or get the hell out of the way. I personally can’t wait to watch the proshots of these Quibis, on my Zune, while also purusing Healthcare.gov.