Bridge Rep to Launch Third Season with Shura Baryshnikov & Oscar Wilde's SALOME

Bridge Repertory Theater kicks off its third season with Oscar Wilde's fast-paced one-act, inspired by the iconic Bible story, and featuring dancer Shura Baryshnikov in the titular role.

Oscar Wilde's rich, heightened text enlivens a most dangerous bargain: Herod (Bob Murphy) begs Salome, "Dance for me," and in exchange promises anything she desires. Salome? complies with the mysterious and erotic dance of the seven veils. To Herod's horror, she then demands the severed head of John the Baptist (Woody Gaul) on a silver platter - an act of retaliation born of unrequited love-at-first-sight. Will Herod honor his word?

"Salome uses this newfound sexuality as a weapon, discovering her ultimate bargaining
power," Baryshnikov said of her role. "The challenge to tap into that fiery passion through movement and text hooked me."

Baryshnikov and Bridge Rep Producing Artistic Director, Olivia D'Ambrosio, began working together in Providence, RI on the faculty of the Brown University/Trinity Rep MFA program, where Baryshnikov also serves a choreographer/movement consultant for both the graduate school and Trinity Repertory Company itself. As a freelance dancer, Baryshnikov has performed in works by Heidi Henderson, Ali Kenner Brodsky and Betsy Miller, among others, and with Aerplaye Dance, American Dance Legacy Initiative, Lostwax Multimedia Dance and Festival Ballet Providence. Shura's solo and improvised performance work has been presented by the RISD Museum, Festival Ballet Providence, the Providence Fringe Festival, the Institute at Brown for Environment and Society and in Earthdance's Moving Arts Lab.

D'Ambrosio will stage Salome at First Church in Boston's Back Bay, where audiences will be engulfed in an immersive, banquet-style environment. Paradoxically, First Church houses Boston's oldest congregation (established 1630), the structure of which was rebuilt after a fire in 1968. Inspired by the building's architecture, and the cultural and social revolution unfolding in America during the transition from the '60's to the '70's, D'Ambrosio radicalizes the legend and Oscar Wilde's play by setting this specific production in the year 1970.

D'Ambrosio says of Salome: "We are opening our third season with a play that defies categorization. It is sexy, terrifying, hilarious, and, above all, epic."

Bridge Rep's third season will also include The Launch Prize, a new play by Bridge Rep company member MJ Halberstadt, and Mud Blue Sky, a comedy by Marisa Wegrzyn.

Salome will play September 24 - October 18 in the First Church in Boston at 66 Marlborough Street. Complete information can be found below.