Condensing Oscar Wilde’s febrile tragedy Salome into a thirty-minute solo sprint is an ambitious gambit. Staged by international collective Changing Perspectives, this physical theatre adaptation tasks performer Naz Yeni with cycling through five separate roles: Young Salome, her elderly counterpart, Jokanaan, the Young Soldier, and Herod himself. So writes Alena Shmakova for theQR.co.uk…
Directed by Ali Barışık, with movement concept by Korhan Başaran, the production frames Wilde’s cautionary tale through a lens of existential disillusionment. Yet in reaching for a high-minded dialogue between innocence and experience, the staging loses its grip on the high stakes and emotional grit that give the original its pulse.
The adaptation’s primary conceit replaces Herodias with an Aged Salome looking back on a wasted youth. It is a neat intellectual premise, but one that quickly stalls on stage.
Aged Salome appears far too fleetingly to anchor the narrative arc or lend weight to the tragedy. Rather than offering illumination, the framing device dilutes the urgency of the central tale.
Worse, the adaptation defangs the Young Soldier. Traditionally driven to self-destruction by an unrequited obsession with the princess, he is here reduced to an obedient, indebted dogsbody. Strip away that first spark of infatuation, and the dominoes of lust and consequence fail to tumble.
Melons and Missed Sparks
Wilde’s play demands a dangerous, suffocating chemistry between Salome and the caged prophet Jokanaan. Here, however, directorial eccentricity derails the drama entirely: the prophet is portrayed by a melon.
To compound matters, Yeni delivers Jokanaan’s holy zeal by thrashing on the floor with her legs kicking frantically in the air. It plays as broad comedy rather than intoxicating fervour.
When Salome proclaims her burning desire for a piece of fruit and a spell of eccentric thrashing, the engine of the narrative seizes up. If Jokanaan carries neither hypnotic magnetism nor spiritual menace, the princess’s descent into obsession feels entirely unearned.
Yeni does strike gold early on with her makeup design, painting bold monochrome lines across her face to signal the clash between naive purity and predatory desire. Yet even this compelling visual language soon drowns in unanchored frenzy.
Subdued Climax, Resonant Design
That disconnect proves fatal during the Dance of the Seven Veils—the hinge upon which Herod’s fatal promise rests. Rather than a display of weaponised allure or calculated vulnerability, the choreography arrives muted and ambiguous.
Without a genuine flash of sensual power, Herod’s willingness to surrender half his kingdom makes little narrative sense.
“Yet in reaching for a high-minded dialogue between innocence and experience, the staging loses its grip on the high stakes and emotional grit that give the original its pulse.“
What the physical staging lacks, the technical design works tirelessly to supply. Alphan Tokmakoğlu’s evocative score is rich with textured, ancient undertones, carrying precisely the tragic weight the physical action drops.
Edibe Polat’s lighting matches that tonal discipline, carving striking contrasts and deep shadows out of an otherwise sparse Fringe space.
Changing Perspectives clearly set out to interrogate the corrosive vacuum of physical desire. But by stripping away Wilde’s suffocating tension and political bite, the company trades tragic consequence for surreal disorientation.
Yeni deserves credit for the raw stamina required to tackle five disparate figures back-to-back. Even so, misplaced levity and muted choreography leave this three-star experiment stranded between ambitious concept and dramatic impact.
Images: Salome rehearsal images provided by the company.
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