The savage power of ancient myth collides with twentieth-century decadence in Oscar Wilde's astonishing tragedy. Salome, stepdaughter of King Herod, agrees to perform the mysterious and erotic Dance of the Seven Veils – but demands in return the head of the King's most infamous prisoner, Iokanaan (John the Baptist). To avoid censorship by the Lord Chamberlain, Wilde originally wrote Salome in French, and it premiered in Paris in 1896, while he was in prison. The play was finally seen in London in 1906, but has yet to gain the massive popularity of his comedies. This edition of Salome, published alongside a UK tour by Headlong in 2010, includes new introductions by the academic Trevor R. Griffiths and Ben Power of Headlong. 'An operatic riff on the destructive potential of desire and power' — The Times 'Lyrical, exotic and dark in the extreme' — Whatsonstage.com