Sacred Circle Theatre Company's SALOME Begins Today

Sacred Circle Theatre Company, a newly formed theatre company based in Brooklyn, performs its inaugural production, Oscar Wilde's SALOMÉ at The Alchemical in Chelsea. Performances begin today, June 16 and continue June 18 and Pride Weekend, June 23-25. Performances are at 7:30pm at 104 West 14th Street.

This production is a new staging of the 1891 play written by the famed writer and queer icon Oscar Wilde, also known for The Picture of Dorian Grey and The Importance of Being Earnest.

Drawing from the Biblical legend of the dancing girl and the martyrdom of St. John the Baptist, Wilde constructs a tale around the spiritually sexual Salomé and her lust for Jokanaan. When she catches the eye of the perverted King Herod, Salomé dances the now-infamous "Dance of the Seven Veils" so she might play out her desire for Jokanaan.

Sacred Circle Theatre Company calls itself a "feminist, queer, and subversive theatre company." In its inaugural production, Sacred Circle uses the Wilde text to explore themes of gender, sexuality, desire, and ritual. Jokanaan is played by gender-liminal, transmasculine poet/performer C Bain, recreating the role as a "gender-non-conforming rockstar prophet." Salomé, played by indie singer/songwriter Mia Longenecker, is "recreated as a sacred sexual priestess" dancing the erotic striptease Dance of the Seven Veils. Oscar Wilde himself is onstage, played by actor and movement artist Craig Porter, weaving in and out of the world he creates. Music is performed live by songwriter/busker Isabelle Curran, based off of the hymns of Hildegarde Von Bingen.

In a diverse ensemble boasting only one straight white cisman, Sacred Circle sets out to tell "the queer, erotic tale the Bible erased." Indeed, when asked what this process means to her, Ms. Longenecker said "To me, this work is about finding ways to physically subvert the dominant hetero-patriarchal narrative of the stories and histories we hold most dear."

Oscar Wilde's SALOMÉ presented by Sacred Circle Theatre Company
Featuring Mia Longenecker, C Bain, Craig Porter, Isabelle Curran, Dontonio Demarco, Sarah Fallon Moran, Michelle Fetterly, Blaize Emily Hall, Sean Jenny, Maria Kim, Tanyamaria McFarlane, Corynne Victoria Peters, Harrison Scott, Becca Travis, Olivia Welch, and Elizabeth Wray

With music by Isabelle Curran and Sam Longenecker
Designs by Chloe Czinsky, Luke Lynch, and Dan Sabatini

Directed by Raymond Arnold

June 16-18 and 23-25
The Alchemical

104 West 14th Street Second Floor

Tickets available at bit.ly/salomesacred

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