Theatre Review: Salome

November, 2007

What happens when a legendary artist from magazines, films and television meets an aspiring theatre director? In this case, the result is Salome by Oscar Wilde -set in a fetish club and crammed into the unspectacular surrounds of a small pub theatre in north London.

When Salome was first written in 1894 it was immediately banned and Wilde vilified for his decadence and depravity. Over a hundred years later it hardly raises an eyebrow…

Many attempts have been made to resurrect Salome from the depths of our supposed enlightened indifference to sex and exposed body parts, but none ever really pay off. It’s a hard piece to successfully stage and the pitfalls are treacherous. Most companies make the error of spiralling into outright farce and slapstick or, perhaps even worse, stage a tragedy of Greek proportions that totally misses Wilde’s prime objective: to poke fun at the hypocrisy of the era he had to contend with.

Enter Andy McQuade, co-founder of controversial theatre company Act Provocateur International, now setting up his own theatre project Second Skin and currently wowing audiences with his unbridled and exuberant spin on this mythical tale.

As the curtain rose, the atmospheric lighting and haunting music swirled around a set that appeared to have been dragged from a Persian fairytale -an array of colours, fabrics and Eastern artefacts. The sheer sensuality of every inch of the stage suggests that Wilde himself has directed. The set design is unmatched, with Chris Achilleos, legendary fantasy artist, teaming with Alyona Zadoya to create a world where time stands still, where the classic and futuristic collide and flow seamlessly into an atmosphere of decadent opulence.

Nika Khitrova as Salome is a Beverly Hills siren: bimbo and schemer in one dazzling package who lures and entices not just Herod but the whole audience, before demolishing all with a final, moving and hypnotic, monologue. Caroline Colomei’s Herodius comes off as a startling ice-maiden who cackles a laugh that sends splinters into Herod’s every misguided antic. This is an ensemble who watch and wait with precision focus, never missing a beat.

Above all of this stands Patrick Doherty as Herod. A tour de force performance that to describe him as comical, tragic, desperate and worthy of our deepest sympathy is to go nowhere close. Doherty effortlessly combines moments of comic genius and self-pitying sensitivity with more than a nod to Wilde himself. As he launches into his final closing monologue, so close to the audience one can glimpse the level of despair into which he has sunk, one is reminded that here is a man of mere flesh and blood, deeply imperfect, truly human.

Highly recommended…

You can see Salome at The Lion and Unicorn until November 18

The Review - THEATRE by TOM FOOT Published: 15 November 2007   Wild vision of Wilde’s passion SALOME LION AND UNICORN THEATRE by Ashionye Ogene DESPITE the biblical links of Oscar Wilde’s original, Andy McQuade’s reworking of Salome is a long way from Sunday school. Set in a fetish nightclub, against a backdrop of metal chains and soft gothic pornography, the plot centres on the princess Salome, seductively portrayed by Nika Khitrova, and her lusting stepfather King Herod (Patrick W Doherty), whose desires and unrequited passions for one another results in a tragic and explosive climax in the form of an eerily realistic severed head. Featuring sexually charged scenes and impassioned drama, this latest production from international drama company Second Skin had the audience extolling its voyeuristic intensity and musing over its daring form. Amid themes of lust, desire, religion and S&M, the script stays true to Wilde’s controversial focus on sexual passion while bringing his 19th-century drama sharply up to date. Full frontal nudity opens the play and sets the tone for much of what is to come, which includes male nudity and lesbian lovemaking. Leathers, g-strings, fishnets and Madonna-inspired cone-cup armour adorn the actors, but, remarkably, this does not detract from the powerful performances of the talented cast. Leading actor Patrick W Doherty is particularly effective as Herod, exploding onto the stage in the second half to provide some well-balanced humour that compliments and softens the sexual impact of the play. Overall a daring and adventurous production, for which the cast and company are to be commended, but think twice about taking your mother. back to reviews