Is it in character for Hannibal to be freaked out?

In early September I attended my cities play of Silence of The Lambs. It was a brilliant production and reflected the movie well (only changing Buffalo Bills motives for murder to wanting to recreate the mother he lost in his childhood than the obvious transphobic barf the movie contained, and the play didn’t play Goodbye Horses by Q Lazzarus which was replaced by various 80s hits)

What striked me as odd was Hannibal being much more freaky for Clarice (can’t find a better word) In one instance Clarice had came to visit him and she had rain on her hair. Hannibal passes her a towel from his cell through the drawer and then sniffed it hard after when Clarice had dried her hair and passed it back to him. Out of pure curiosity, why was this approach taken to display Hannibal's behaviour? Also in another instance he turned his back to the audience and pretended to piss in his cells toilet while Clarice was on stage outside his cell and then in the infamous scene where Hannibal and Clarice touch hands while passing the Buffalo Bill case file Hannibal instinctively put his hand in his mouth like some sort of rabid animal.

I’m all for different interpretations of characters but this performance has made me curious why did they make Hannibal freaked out. Was it supposed to indicate romantic feelings Hannibal had for Clarice in the most obvious way possible? Is it appease Clannibal shippers or people that read books with such dynamics? Or is it just butchery of a complex character?