SALOME Set for The Women's Voices Theater Festival

Turning away from what she calls Oscar Wilde's "Dance of Death" and instead creating a "Dance of Life," internationally acclaimed adaptor-director Yaël Farber has reinterpreted the biblical figure known as Salomé as an agent of revolution whose mysterious act-demanding the head of John the Baptist-changed the course of history. The world premiere of Salomé opens the Shakespeare Theatre Company's 2015-2016 Mainstage Season and marks the Company's entry in the Women's Voices Theater Festival. The production runs October 6-November 8, 2015, at the Lansburgh Theatre (450 7th Street NW).

Using Wilde's Salomé as the premise, Farber has radically adapted this narrative and included ancient Arabic, Hebraic and Babylonian texts, and crafted the production with a cast assembled from around the world. The result is an urgently relevant exploration of the woman's voice in history, oppressed people's power over their own bodies, and the explosive connections between religious and political uprising.

"I'm interested in telling a story that awakens the feminine narrative, that asks the questions: At what point do we own the possibility of political action? And why is feminine political agency so often written out?" says Farber, a multiple-award-winning director and playwright whose production of Mies Julie-a hard-hitting adaptation of Strindberg's Miss Julie set in post-Apartheid South Africa-earned a Helen Hayes Award nomination for Outstanding Visiting Production after the Shakespeare Theatre Company (STC) presented it during the 2013-2014 Season. "I want to create the possibility that this woman, living under an occupying regime, came to a deep understanding of her selfhood, one that allowed her to drive forward a political agenda."

"After witnessing how audiences were riveted by Mies Julie, I knew that the Company had to find an opportunity for Yaël to create a production in Washington," says STC Artistic Director Michael Kahn. "Salomé promises to be another powerful theatrical experience, and as one of the originating theatres of the Women's Voices Theater Festival, we are exceptionally proud that both Yaël's and Salomé's voices are being heard on our stage at this time."

To purchase tickets, call the Box Office at 202.547.1122 or visit ShakespeareTheatre.org.

Salomé was commissioned through a grant from the Beech Street Foundation and is sponsored by the Share Fund.

Press Night/Opening Night will be Tuesday, October 13, at 7:45 p.m.

Artists and dates are subject to change.

This production contains nudity and graphic themes. Recommended for mature audiences.

THE CAST

The title character is represented by two performers: Nadine Malouf as Salomé and Olwen Fouéré as Nameless Woman. Malouf has been seen at Lincoln Center in The Who & The What and in the 25th anniversary tour of LES MISERABLES. Fouéré works around the globe and has been lauded as the adaptor, director and star of riverrun, an exploration of the voice of the river in James Joyce's Finnegans Wake that has been seen in cities including London, Edinburgh, Sydney and New York.

In the role of Iokanaan (John the Baptist) is Ramzi Choukair, a France-based Syrian actor with an array of international stage, television and film roles to his credit. Broadway performer T. Ryder Smith (War Horse, Equus) portrays Pontius Pilate. He has also worked Off-Broadway in shows such as Underneath the Lintel (Drama Desk nomination, Outstanding Solo Performance) and Lebensraum (Drama Desk Award), and has been seen in television shows including The Blacklist, Elementary and The Good Wife.

Rounding out the internationally assembled ensemble are Lubana Al Quntar (Singer), Yuval Boim (Caiaphas), Jeff Hayenga (Annas), Tamar Ilana (Singer), Shahar Isaac (Bar Giora), Ismael Kanater (Herod), Richard Saudek (Yeshua the Madman) and Elan Zafir (Abaddon).

THE ADAPTOR-DIRECTOR

Yaël Farber recently directed an Olivier Award-nominated production of Arthur Miller's The Crucible for the Old Vic in London that became one of the most successful shows in that theatre's illustrious history. Nirbhaya, a powerful work that exposes sexual and gender-based violence, earned exceptional reviews and three awards at the 2013 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Mies Julie won a string of awards at the 2012 Edinburgh Fringe Festival and was named one of the year's top 10 productions by The New York Times and one of the top five by The Guardian. Nirbhaya, Mies Julie and several other works written and directed by Farber are touring internationally. She was named the 2003 Artist of the Year in her native South Africa.

THE ARTISTIC TEAM

The artistic team includes Movement Director Ami Shulman, Scenic/Costume Designer Susan Hilferty, Lighting Designer Donald Holder, Composer/Sound Designer Mark Bennett, Fight Consultant Robb Hunter, Laura Stanczyk Casting, CSA, Resident Casting Director Carter C. Wooddell, Literary Manager/Dramaturg Drew Lichtenberg, Head of Voice and Text Ellen O'Brien, Assistant Director Rob Jansen, Production Stage Manager Laura Smith and Assistant Stage Manager Elizabeth Clewley.

WOMEN'S VOICES THEATER FESTIVAL

The Women's Voices Theater Festival, which boasts participation from more than 50 theaters throughout the Nation's Capital region, is dedicated to featuring new work by female playwrights and highlighting the scope of plays being written by women. Find more information on the fall 2015 festival at womensvoicestheaterfestival.org.

Official festival events include the AsidesLive Symposium: Where Are Women's Voices? on Saturday, October 24, 10 a.m.-1 p.m. at the Forum in Sidney Harman Hall (610 F Street NW, free, reservations required). Playwrights Heather Raffo, Anna Ziegler, Susan McCully and Washington Post theater critic Peter Marks will offer a variety of perspectives on the symposium theme, including a historical look at the consequences of missing voices, and whether there is a unique quality to female language and female dramaturgy.

TRIAL OF SALOMÉ

On December 7, the STC Bard Association will continue its tradition of exploring the connections between classic theatre and modern-day law. Trial of Salomé will examine the suppression of the power of women throughout history. The trial will feature some of the top women of the legal world: Justice Elena Kagan (presiding), Judge Patricia Millett, Judge Amy Berman Jackson and advocates Deborah B. Baum of Pillsbury LLP and Carol Elder Bruce of K&L Gates LLP.

The trial starts at 7 p.m. at the Lansburgh Theatre, followed at 8:30 p.m. with a reception. VIP trial and reception tickets are $125 and are available by contacting MockTrial@ShakespeareTheatre.org or calling 202.547.3230 ext. 2330. Trial-only tickets can be purchased for $75 by calling the Box Office at 202.547.1122, option 4.

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