SALOME

About the show

Imprisoned by a fearful Herod, the prophet Jokanaan rejects the sexual advances of Herod’s stepdaughter, Salomé. When she is compelled by Herod to dance, Salomé is filled with lust-driven revenge and demands the head of the prophet as payment. Salomé has fascinated and inspired artists across the ages. Oscar Wilde’s lyrical one-act drama – originally banned in Britain – reinvented Salomé as a powerful and enigmatic figure, both erotic and chaste. Marking 50 years since the decriminalisation of homosexuality in England and Wales, Owen Horsley (Associate Director on the King & Country season) directed a new, contemporary take on Oscar Wilde’s classic, placing sexual ambiguity at the core, with music by American artist Perfume Genius.