Link received from Tongue & Groove Theatre:
Hip Pocket Theatre walks tightrope with 'Salome'
Posted Saturday, Sep. 04, 2010
By Mark Lowry
Special to the Star-Telegram
FORT WORTH -- A band of circus performers can be an odd lot, a mix of attention-hungry clowns, demanding bosses, ego-driven daredevils and aerialists whose moves blend precision and sensuality. But they all have one big thing in common: They're all misfits in a world that places so much emphasis on normalcy.
Put all those elements in one performance, and it can be thrilling one minute and creepy the next, peppered with amusing and erotic interludes.
All those aspects work for Oscar Wilde's most scandalous play, Salome.
It comes together magically in David Yeakle's adaptation of the 1891 script, set in a circus milieu, for Hip Pocket Theatre.
In Yeakle's vision, the virginal temptress Salome is an aerialist (Mimi Kayl-Vaughan), her stepfather, Herod, is Ringmaster (Thad Isbell), mom Herodias a retired aerialist (Susan Austin), and Jokanaan, the character based on John the Baptist (Richard Rangel), is a caged wild man. Narraboth is an animal trainer (Paul Logsdon), and Naaman, the executioner, is a knife thrower, sharpening his blades throughout the show (and played by Grover Coulson).
Around them, strongmen, contortionists and clowns create that sense of whimsy and awe that can best be captured under the big top.
The show uses original music (by keyboardist Justin Sherburn), and oddly, a foursome of readers who speak the lines of the play, while most of the actors mime the action.
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