While developing his full-length play, Dance of Deceit, author Tom Gorsuch was inspired by John Rankine's photography. Rankine is an award winning multimedia artist, photographer and writer who has made Eureka Springs home for the past 20 years. He is a co-member of the Eureka Fine Art Gallery at 2 Pine St. in Eureka, where his work is on view. Rankine's photography explores a wide range of subjects and themes, often pairing found objects in unexpected ways.
Gorsuch and his wife, Ann Hopkins, publicist for Five & Dime Drama Collective, admired Rankine's mannequin and doll photographs and approached him about creating images for the Spring 2017 production. “There are several scenes in the play that involve sexual encounters, which would be awkward to perform on stage here in Eureka,” explained Gorsuch. “We thought John could create images to be projected on a screen above the stage that would tastefully represent the more intimate scenes and provide some comic relief to the dramatic tension on stage.”
Rankine was intrigued by the project. “When approached by Tom and Ann to photograph three different sets of couples using inanimate objects, I immediately thought of black and white, to give the play a film noir type feel as well as a cohesiveness that I felt was important. I hope the audience has as much fun watching these photographs as I had shooting them.”
“Using John's photography for the poster, rather than a standard cast photo, brings some mystery and panache to the promotional material,” Hopkins noted. “We hope people are drawn in by the multimedia nature of the play.”
In addition to overhead photographic projections, live music will be performed on stage during the play. Dance of Deceit will be performed on MAY 7, 2017 at 2:00 in the venerable Auditorium in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. The production is supported by the City of Eureka Springs as part of the May Festival of the Arts. More information and tickets are available at FiveAndDimeDramaCollective.org.