[Narrator] Salome was written by Oscar Wilde in 1♥8♥9♥3
and it was unlike any of his other works.
He wrote the play deliberately in a lush and ornate style.
It takes place in the ancient city of Judaea,
in King Herod's palace
and all references in the play relate
to that specific biblical era.
The company of actors are interpreting
the play in modern dress,
but all references in the play relate to that period,
just before the death of Christ.
(somber music)
How beautiful is the Princess Salome tonight!
Look at the moon!
How strange the moon seems.
She is like a woman rising from a tomb.
She is like a dead woman.
You would fancy she was looking for dead things.
She has a strange look.
She's like a little princess who wears a yellow veil,
and whose feet are of silver.
She is like a princess who has little white doves for feet.
She is like a woman who is dead.
She moves very slowly.
(shouting)
Who are those wild beasts howling?
The Jews.
They are always like that.
They are disputing about their religion.
Why do they dispute about their religion?
I cannot tell.
They are always doing it.
I think it is ridiculous to dispute about such things.
How beautiful is the Princess Salome tonight!
You are always looking at her.
You look at her too much.
It is dangerous to look at people in such fashion.
Something terrible may happen.
She is very beautiful tonight.
[Man] The Tetrarch has a sombre look.
[Man] Yes he has a sombre look.
He is looking at something. He is looking at someone.
At whom is he looking?
I cannot tell.
Herodias has filled the cup of the Tetrarch.
[Man] Is that the Queen Herodias?
[Man] Yes, that is Herodias, the Tetrarch's wife.
After me shall come another mightier than I.
I am not worthy so much as to unloose
the latchet of His shoes.
When He cometh, the solitary places shall be glad.
They shall blossom like the lily.
The eyes of the blind shall see the day,
and the ears of the deaf shall be opened.
The newborn child shall put his hand...
...Make him be silent.
He is always saying ridiculous things.
No, no.
He is a holy man.
He is very gentle, too.
Every day, when I give him to eat, he thanks me.
Who is he? A prophet.
What is his name? Jokanaan.
He came from the desert,
where he fed on locusts and wild honey.
A great multitude used to follow him.
He even had disciples.
What is he talking of? We can never tell.
Sometimes he says terrible things,
but it is impossible to understand what he says.
May one see him? No.
The Tetrarch has forbidden it.
The Princess has hidden her face behind her fan!
Her little white hands are fluttering
like doves that fly to their dovecots.
They are like white butterflies.
They are just like white butterflies.
What is that to you?
Why do you look at her?
You must not look at her.
Something terrible may happen.
What a strange prison. It is an old cistern.
An old cistern.
It must be very unhealthy.
Oh, no!
For instance, the Tetrarch's brother, his elder brother,
the first husband of Herodias the Queen,
was imprisoned there for 12 years.
It did not kill him.
At the end of the 12 years he had to be strangled.
Strangled?
Who dared to do that?
That man yonder, Naaman, the executioner.
He was not afraid? -Oh, no!
The Tetrarch sent him the ring.
What ring? The deathring.
So he was not afraid.
Yet it is a terrible thing to strangle a king.
Why?
Kings have but one neck, like other folk.
I think it terrible.
[Man] The Princess rises!
She is leaving the table!
She looks very troubled.
[Man] How pale she is!
Never have I seen her so pale.
[Man] Do not look at her.
I pray you not to look at her.
She is like a dove that has strayed.
She is like a narcissus trembling in the wind.
She is like a silver flower.
I will not stay.
I cannot stay.
Why does the Tetrarch look at me all the while
with his mole's eyes under his shaking eyelids?
It is strange that the husband of my mother
looks at me that way.
I know not what it means.
In truth, yes, I know it.
You have just left the feast, Princess?
How sweet the air is here!
I can breathe here!
Inside there are Jews from Jerusalem
who are tearing each other to pieces
over their foolish ceremonies,
and barbarians who drink and drink,
and spill their wine on the pavement,
and Greeks from Smyrna with painted eyes and painted cheeks
and frizzed hair curled in twisted coils,
and silent, subtle Egyptians,