Salome

Salome: now there’s a girl who knows how to get a head. Oscar Wilde’s telling of the Biblical story is revived by Israel theatre company Gesher and is now appearing at Theatre Royal Haymarket. A controversial company doing a controversial play in London’s theatre heartland? Nothing to see, move along, move along.

The elephants are not just in the room but outside it too. The deeper-than-usual bag search, the full-body scanning by neon-lit wand and other strict security measures could be the perfect introduction to an immersive experience but, for Salome, this is deemed a necessary measure for all those waiting to go in. Some tempers run high and — if the intention was to keep the drama just inside the auditorium — it can’t be said to be a success.

With Salome, London now has a hat trick of Wildean productions. This week, the National Theatre’s glitzy take on The Importance Of Being Earnest starring Olly Alexander opened to rave reviews. Meanwhile, immersive bio Oscar At The Crown continues its run on Tottenham Court Road. To paraphrase: have one work by the Irish writer is fortunate, to have three looks more than mere chance. The world is going through a Weimareseque moment and Wilde is as good as any at capturing that particular vibe.

Maxim Didenko sets his modern dress production in a Middle East bar with a wide tub in the middle. Jokanaan – ostensibly in some underground oubliette — appears above the cast in his darkened jail, his singing a peculiar ululating. Soldiers in body armour hang about while the princess charms them and begs her father, the Tetrarch Herod, for his prisoner’s head. Jokanaan’s topless cellmates are slowly executed before Salome gets her wish.

What could have been an exciting interpretation is turned by Didenko into something of a mess. As in literally: every time there's some splish-sploshing in the tub, besuited stagehands run on stage to mop up the water, rudely breaking the fourth wall from behind on several occasions.

Other directorial decisions baffle too. A large silver-headed snake appears, storms around the stage and then disappears off stage never to be seen again. The acting varies from the committed to the hammy with only a couple of the cast truly selling their roles. The most glaring resonances to modern global crises are nodded with all the energy of a bored teenager with little effort to bring out even the most obvious connections to what is happening in the world.

Wilde observed that “it is absurd to divide people into good and bad. People are either charming or tedious.” The same could be said about interpretations of his work and this one falls squarely into the latter category.

Salome continues until 11 October.