Salome

It would be hard to think of any other word to describe the production history of Oscar Wilde's Salome than opulent. The work has been famously adapted as an opera and a ballet, and Peter Brook's production of Strauss's opera, with Dalí-designed sets and a dress made out of thousands of peacock feathers, is simply the most extreme example of the design excess that has been brought to both the play and its adaptations. Such opulence, which has at times reached decadent levels in the minds of some critics, has long been associated with Wilde. Consequently, some have thought of Wilde as an apolitical playwright. However, several recent productions have rejected opulence and explored the social politics implicit in the play. In Estelle Parson's Salome: The Reading, this trend towards anti-opulent and political production develops into a feminist critique and an exploration of the theatre's potential to subvert received hierarchies

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