Bold, provocative, and drenched in poetic decadence, Salomé is a haunting exploration of power, eroticism and the price of forbidden longing. The divisive figure of Salomé has haunted the imagination of artists for centuries – but who was she really? A naive girl swept up in forces beyond her control? A defiant teenager railing against the hypocrisy of the world around her? Or a dangerous seductress with a lust for power? The enigmatic Jewish princess continues to electrify the minds of audiences with her dark allure and untamed spirit.
A full house for Press night with security checks that delay the ingress to the point that they closed the bars 15 minutes before curtain up. A man starts shouting in the dress circle but I can’t hear what he’s saying. Wondering if this is part of the production but apparently not as he’s removed from the theatre and the show starts 15 mins late. At 1 hour 40 minutes and no interval and a late start to the show, we’re in for a long haul!
There are many many productions of Salome, it’s almost impossible to have not seen a few of them over the years. This one though is something else. There’s musical contributions and singing and these make a welcome addition to an otherwise chilling dramaturg.
The Set has a piano downstage right, columns resembling a church cloister, an extremely large water feature bowl centre stage, and stage left is a bar with an over-high counter backed by metallic hanging cloths. There’s also a punch and Judy style stage up high that is revealed by the front section flown out. Every time it flies back in there’s a sound clang and bright light change. This section was used too often so lost it’s effectiveness. Apart from this there is little in the way of set change.
King Herod is keen to see his daughter dance for him. Sounds normal enough however in this instance it comes across rather seedy when he offers practically anything to persuade her. So she does while splashing around in the fountain and revealing her boobs. Like Trump fetishizing about his daughter there’s the ick factor. The daughter then demands the head of a man who spurned her attentions. Yep, this is one screwed up family all right!
With a cast that’s both Russian and Israeli there’s a lot of military uniforms and swagger with guns and rifles pointed around. Most of the cast being used as set dressing rather than actual characters.
The lighting is striking with beams of light crossing the stage very much in the style of a cathedral high window. The key lights full of breakup patterns and shadowy to create an eery feel. The sound was great in the singing but quite tinny for the dialogue without any under balcony fill so far as I could tell.
More weird than wonderful, it’s a production one won’t forget in a hurry.
Title: Salome by Oscar Wilde
Performance Dates Tuesday 30th September – Sunday 11th October 2025
Location Theatre Royal Haymarket, London, SW1Y 4HT
Running Time 1 hour 40 minutes
Tickets https://trh.co.uk
How to get there The easiest way to reach the Theatre Royal Haymarket is by public transport. It’s just a short walk from Piccadilly Circus underground station, served by the Bakerloo and Piccadilly lines. The theatre is also conveniently located near Leicester Square station on the Northern and Piccadilly lines, providing excellent connections across London.
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Further info:
Access Entertainment is the media and entertainment division of Access Industries, the global investment group founded by billionaire Sir Leonard Blavatnik. Sir Leonard Blavatnik was born in Ukraine (then part of the Soviet Union) and later became a British-American billionaire industrialist. He made much of his early fortune in Russia during the privatization of industries in the 1990s, which is why he is sometimes referred to in the media as a “Russian oligarch.”
In the UK, Blavatnik began investing in West End theatres, seeing them as both cultural prestige projects and profitable real estate investments.
2018: Access Entertainment (a division of Access Industries) acquired the leasehold of the Theatre Royal Haymarket, one of London’s oldest and most prestigious theatres.
Blavatnik has supported both commercial productions and arts philanthropy, blending investment and cultural influence.