Oscar Wilde’s ‘Salome’ – Headlong Theatre and Curve Theatre, Leicester – Theatre Royal Brighton
18 Jun 2010 Leave a Comment
As Wilde goes, Salome is certainly not typical, and Jamie Lloyd’s new production pushes it further. Hailed as ‘experimental’ companies, Salome seems like perfect material for Headlong Theatre and Curve Theatre, Leicester, and it definitely yielded some interesting theatre – although not all good.
The stage was set, or rather stripped, by Soutra Gilmour, to create a powerfully raw atmosphere. Being able to see the lights, wires and all, the black back wall of the Theatre Royal Brighton, the hollowed out, curtainless wings, really brought the true, dark emotions to the forefront. However, the decision to have a two tiered raised stage on the actual stage did annoy the lines of sight. Furthermore, the costume designs (also the work of Gilmour) seemed unjustified. The cast were robed in torn up army uniforms, complete with guns and black boots – but there didn’t seem to be any reason for it. Why our seductive Salome had elected to wear a khaki one-in-all suit was a mystery, and Herod’s decision to wear a mesh tank top with his parachute trousers was even more confusing. From the action on stage we were to understand that inside Herod and his guests were enjoying a tacky disco in a gritty town, which only served to increase my confusion over their attire.
The cast was a mishmash of talent and extremism. As the Young Syrian, Narraboth, Sam Donovan was clean cut, but far from cutting. He seemed too whiny to be a man of action, and not enamoured or devastated enough to justify his suicide. Donovan spoke very well and made a dramatic opening, but his performance was not quite raw enough to warrant the kind of behaviour displayed by Narraboth. Zawe Ashton gave an interesting and somewhat daring performance as Salome. Playing the Princess as a nervy, fast-talking, party girl made her seduction of Narraboth very apt, and her I-want-it-now attitude towards Iokanaan extremely relatable. However, the other side of this character seemed to be one of casual indifference, which made her demands (after dancing) seem flippant and unlikely; It seemed unlikely that a party girl princess and serial seductress would care enough to demand the death of a prophet. Similarly, Con O’Neill’s Herod was so far removed from reality, that when Salome made her request, his anger and fear appeared to have come out of nowhere. As a man of no faith and even less sanity why would he care about the life of this prophet? Having said that, for what it was O’Neill gave a strong performance, committing entirely to the role he was playing and the way he was playing it. Without a doubt the strongest performance came from Jaye Griffiths as Herodias. She was the perfect mix of sultry seductiveness and painful desperation. Initially self-assured and fun loving, Griffiths slowly let Herodias’ neurosis unravel until she was begging her daughter not to dance and finally laughing manically as the demands were made. She even managed to outshine and out-act her ridiculous outfit (complete with denim shorts and a metal studded shoulder). A brilliant portrayal and updating of this most tragic queen. Less impressive was Iokanaan, played by Seun Shote. His voice was powerful when projected through the speakers from below the stage, but further than that it was a largely unremarkable performance. Being shackled and chained between two guards, almost forced to bend to Salome’s will gave him some credibility as he recoiled from her touch, but largely he played it by the book, uninspiringly.
The rest of the cast – Richard Cant as the Page of Herodias, Vyelle Croom as Naaman, Nitzan Sharron as the Cappadocian, Tom Byam Shaw as the Nazarene and Tim Steed as the Jew – gave no stand out performances, but worked very well as an ensemble. Their constant movement kept the stage alive and their writhing bodies created a strong sense of brutality.
Jamie Lloyd’s direction wasn’t quite as experimental as I had expected, which wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. The decision to have a light change and haunting music every time Iokanaan spoke from offstage was initially powerful and striking, but after three or four times became somewhat repetitive and monotonous. Other than that, the blocking was brilliant, always keeping the combination of people onstage interesting and visually stimulating. However, the amount of sex and alcohol reference made the whole production, with it’s dark smoky exterior, rather adolescent. It was like looking into the darkest recesses of a suicidal teen’s mind – albeit a very smart, quick witted, silver tongued teen, but a teen nonetheless.
Moody and atmospheric, this is a somewhat daring production and it is hard to imagine a Salome quite as raw and honest. I found it deeply inspiring, but unfortunately most of my inspiration stemmed from a desire to do things oh so differently. I’m glad I saw it, but once was quite enough.
Salome, Theatre Royal Brighton 2010
