Post on 11-Aug-2020
Arsalan Sattari Dom Corfield
By Oscar Wilde
Director Production Manager
About the play Salomé is a tragedy by Oscar Wilde. The original 1891 version of the play was in French. Three years later an English translation was published. The play tells in one act the Biblical story of Salome, stepdaughter of the tetrarch Herod Antipas, who, to her stepfather's dismay but to the delight of her mother Herodias, requests the head of Jokanaan (John the Baptist) on a silver platter as a reward for dancing the dance of the seven veils.
The Show
Wilde wrote Salome in French in 1891, but the play was not produced for five years. In 1892, rehearsals for the play's first planned production began, but they were halted when the licenser of plays for the Lord Chamberlain, the British government official in charge of theater censorship, banned Salome, ostensibly because of an old law forbidding the depiction of Biblical characters onstage but probably also because of the play's focus on sexual passion. Wilde was so upset by Salome's censorship that he threatened to leave England and live in France, where he would be granted more artistic freedom. Salomé, like most of Oscar Wilde's plays, is a rich and ornate picture: it was written for the purpose of displaying its neat and well-‐balanced plot, for the sheer pleasure to be derived from its esthetic appeal. The stage-‐directions offer the reader something of what is put into the production. The gorgeous and figured style of the dialogue is the work of a poet who plays with words. In the original the style is something of a patch-‐work: there are many speeches reminiscent of Maeterlinck's early manner, and occasional snatches of Baudelaire and Flaubert. The play is, however, remarkable for its well-‐handled plot: it is thoroughly dramatic and holds the attention of the audience to the end.
Cast -‐ HEROD ANTIPAS -‐ TETRARCH OF JUD -‐ IOKANAAN -‐ THE PROPHET -‐ HERODIAS, WIFE OF THE TETRARCH -‐ SALOME, DAUGHTER OF HERODIAS
Ensumble:
-‐ FIRST SOLDIER -‐ SECOND SOLDIER -‐ THE YOUNG SYRIAN -‐ CAPTAIN OF THE GUARD -‐ TIGELLINUS -‐ A YOUNG ROMAN -‐ A CAPPODOCIAN -‐ A NUBIAN -‐ THE PAGE OF HERODIAS -‐ THE JEWS -‐ A SLAVE -‐ NAMAAN, THE EXECUTIONER -‐ THE SLAVES OF SALOME
The Ideas
I always wanted to direct a play with a strong message, something relatable yet mind-‐boggling for the audience and a true challenge for any actor and myself. I did this with
Broken Glass. With Salome, I’m going a whole different direction. I want to tell a story a biblical famous story. A story that has inspired artists, painters, musician and composer for many many years and not just tell it, but set it is a whole different world. I want to get this rather simple and short script and set it in an alternative reality. Imagine that history has taken a different turn. What would these people wear? How would they walk, talk, react? I want to create
a universe around this script. That this idea of freedom of creation is so appealing to me. The idea that we can head a design team that would create fashion and a set and designs that are completely new to audience eyes is… exciting.
To me this show is based around
three famous sequences in the script. “The Dance of The Seven Veils”, “The Torture” and “The Head”. I will be talking in more detail about these in the proposals. But what I want to tell you here is that these will be extraordinary. The style of chorography we have in mind will be like none we’ve seen before in SuTCo productions. Giving the opportunity for our designers to truly push their level of creativity to the max.
The chorus, after the success of Blood Wedding and Equus, is a key key part in this
production. The will be responsible for bringing to life the world that we want to create. Their physicality and movement will be basis for the mood that we are trying to create. You don’t have to be a fit actor or familiar with physicals theatre or contemporary dance to be able to pull off these parts, but a brilliant imagination to bring these characters to life!
The Rights and week slots We prefer to have week 5. Week 3 is doable but we will require auditions asap. There are no Copy-‐Rights!:)
The team Director – Arsalan Sattari
Arsalan is an MSc (Creative & Cultural Industry) Management student. He has been involved with theatre and the arts form a very young age. Before Sheffield, he was heavily involved on and off stage at school and with amateur theatre companies, the highlight of which was stage managing Les miserable at the Artrix theatre in Bromsgrove, amongst other things, such as exploring writing for the stage and studying musical theatre and achieving his RADA Shakespeare gold certificates with Merit and training in stage combat. He was also the captain of the school theatre company, organising the admin side of 4 annual shows. He has appeared in many productions including, The Castle, The Lightning Play, Nimrod, The Merchant of Venice, The Man Who Listens, Clouds and Waiting for Godot and most recetly SuTCo’s Equus. He has directed Broken Glass for SuTCo in 2010, The Man Who Listens for Platform 2010, Footloose for SUPAS 2009. Produced Tragedy of Titus for Headlock Theatre at the Fringe and has a very familiar and close relationship with the society and the drama studio. Directing and production is his passion and the thought of directing a challenging piece of theatre such as Salome with the level of creativity that it offers is truly uplifting. Production Manager – Dom Corfield Dominic is a second year BA Politics student. He has had a very keen interest in theatre since his time at secondary school, acting in shows such as The Wind in the Willows, 12 Angry Men, The Rover and The Exam. In January 2009 Dominic performed at the Chicago Sketch Comedy Festival in the US in a production called Life Isn’t Everything, something which only heightened his dedication to theatre. On the technical side, he stage managed a production of As You Like It, and directed Noel Coward’s Private Lives while in 6th form. His first SuTCo involvement was playing Joseph K in the SuTCo production of The Trial by Steven Berkoff in his first year. Later than year he worked as Lighting Operator for Broken Glass which gave him his first experience of working with the director, and then worked with him again in Platform Festival show The Man Who Listens. This has given him great experience of working with the director and the knowledge that they are more than capable together of creating another excellent show for the society. This year he has played Jimmy Porter in Look Back in Anger. By having an active role in theatre, both onstage and behind the scenes, since secondary school he has become accustomed to working within a team of both technical and acting staff in intensive schedules. Due to all of this he now feels prepared and excited to take on the role of production manager for Salome and to being part of what will be an amazing show for SuTCo.
Additions To The Team After Proposals
Choreographer Producer
Deputy Stage Manager Set Designer
Sound Designer Lighting Designer Costume Designer Sound Operator Lighting Operator
We will also have members of the belly dancing and drumming society involved.
We do not have specific people in mind and are happy to consider failed proposal
teams for available roles.
Why should SuTCo put on Salome and put their trust in us! ;)
• Wilde is a big name, people know him, like him or not, they’ve heard of him and alome will interest a wide range of audiences, from A-‐level students to the Sheffield community and our general audience.
• Even if the audience have no clue about the biblical story, the chemistry and the story line of the show will keep them at the edge of their seats. Even if this fails and they hate theatre, the choreography and the movement will keep them engaged.
• This is a show SuTCo members will love! It gives the actors the opportunity to explore the characters and the level of freedom of creativity will allow them to come up with some fab characteristics. It’s not just the case of learning lines… go away, learn them, feel them, eat them, love them… If our members want to show off their talent, this will be the highlight of their SuTCo career.
• The script offers the opportunity to play around with the stage as much as
possible, and the ideas the team have come up with will truly reflect the thought process of the characters, and without giving much away, It will offer a certain freedom and playground for the actors to do as they wish.
• We haven’t had a show produced that resembles anything close to what this
script has to offer… In my two and half years of SuTCo I haven’t seen a show that puts across these messages and concepts with such awesome. It offers twist and turns, laughs and tears and its thought provoking while offering the chance to truly fall in love with the characters.
• IT WILL SELL… It has a massive name behind it. The publicity opportunities that
it offers are massive… The History dep, English dep, schools, the mass Sheffield crowd. A colourful and eye catching publicity package and hopefully a gripping trailer…