Oscar Wilde’s novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, with its homoerotic undertones caused a scandal when published, even though he had been careful not to be too explicit about the relationships portrayed. No need for such caution for Matthew Bourne, who has brought the story forward into the present-day world of fashion and advertising. He has also changed the sex of two characters. The decadent Lord Henry Wotton, who leads Dorian’s descent into depravity, is now Lady H, a female media mogul – a sleek, haughty performance from Michela Meazza. More importantly, the actress Sybil Vane, whom Dorian briefly loves and then destroys, has become the male ballet dancer, Cyril Vane. Bourne told me that he is sure Wilde thought of Vane as a man, even though he did not dare to present him as one.

Bourne’s work is ablaze with lust, from the long, obsessed duet in which Dorian, who has been working as a waiter, is seduced by – or seduces – fashion photographer Basil Hallward (impressive Jason Piper), through the writhings and couplings of the supporting cast, Dorian’s sexual manipulation by Lady H, to his murder of Basil in the bath.

The way Bourne uses movement to put over the emotions of his characters is extremely powerful, and at times very funny. At one point we find Dorian in bed after a wild (sorry!) night, and gradually discover that the bed contains four other people. The opening photo session, with the whole cast moving into different groupings and poses for Hallward’s camera, is terrific.

Bourne is primarily concerned with the way celebrity corrupts. Dorian is the model in an advertising campaign for Immortal, a men’s fragrance. His face is on huge billboards, and briefly, hilariously, he appears in a send-up of the Jonathan Ross show. Everything becomes accessible to him – sex, drugs, men, women, and he is lost in a morass of self-indulgence which he does not survive.

There is no picture that becomes increasingly evil as the beautiful Dorian (Richard Winsor in a hugely demanding role) gradually falls apart. In a sense Winsor is also the picture, as we see his personality becoming ever uglier. However, Bourne has also created a doppelganger, whose contorted, agonised movements show us what is happening in Dorian’s mind.

Dorian Gray continues until Saturday. Tickets: 0870 060 6652 (www.ambassadortickets.com/ milton keynes).