Wilde: Salome

This 1998 book is a study of Oscar Wilde's Salome, a play now regarded as central to his artistic achievement.

William Tydeman (Author), Steven Price (Author)

9780521454230, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 28 August 1996

228 pages, 11 b/w illus.
21.6 x 14 x 1.7 cm, 0.44 kg

"Wilde: Salome is a detailed, well-thought, and meticulously researched account of an often-ignored play by a major playwright." Jonathan Chambers, Victorian Studies

This 1996 book is a study of Oscar Wilde's Salome, a play now regarded as central to his artistic achievement. Often drawing on little-known sources, the authors provide a detailed stage-history of this controversial work, and its transformation into opera, dance and film. Beginning with Sarah Bernhardt's aborted production of 1892, the book surveys Salome's principal realisations in the European theatre, including Lugné-Poe's Parisian première of 1896, Reinhardt's Berlin productions of 1902–3, attempts at presentation in pre-revolutionary Russia, and the play's impact on the English stage between 1911 and 1990. A separate chapter explores a wealth of further interpretations, including Aubrey Beardsley's challenging illustrations, Strauss's operatic version and the provocative films created by Alla Nazimova and Ken Russell.

Introduction
1. Beginnings
2. Early stage productions in Europe
3. Salome on the English stage, 1911–90
4. Transformations
Conclusion.

Subject Areas: Theatre studies [AN]