Salome (Wednesday Theatre)

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"Salome"
Wednesday Theatre episode
Episode no.Season 4
Episode 18
Directed by Oscar Whitbread
Based on Salome
by Oscar Wilde
Featured musicFrank Smith
Original air date1 May 1968 (1968-05-01) [1]
Running time60 mins [2] [3]
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"Salome" is a 1968 Australian TV play starring Frank Thring. It was based on the 1891 play of the same name by Oscar Wilde and was reportedly the first time that play had been adapted for television. [4]

Contents

Cast

Production

Thring had performed in productions of the play on stage numerous times - indeed it was a performance of Salome in England in 1954 that established his reputation over there. [5] Trevor Ling designed the production from drawings done by Aubrey Beardsley. [6]

The production was announced in July 1967 and taped in December of that year. [7]

Reception

The Sydney Morning Herald said the production "did not make sense" in part because "of sexual passion and conflict there was no trace" saying Thring "was the only player to move and speak with conviction and control." [8]

The Age said "it was more music hall than melodrama" with "Miss Skeggs was splendid" and "Thring's Herod had everything to recommend it." [9]

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References

  1. "television". The Canberra Times . Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 1 May 1968. p. 26. Retrieved 11 February 2020 via Trove.
  2. "TV Guide". Sydney Morning Herald. April 29, 1968. p. 21.
  3. "TV Guide". Sydney Morning Herald. 30 April 1968. p. 12.
  4. "Salome Gets Her Man". The Age. 25 April 1968. p. 23.
  5. Peter Fitzpatrick, 'Thring, Francis William (Frank) (1926–1994)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/thring-francis-william-frank-19779/text31056, published online 2018, accessed online 12 February 2020.
  6. "A.B.C. WEDNESDAY THEATRE Bible yields a Wilde drama". The Canberra Times . Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 29 April 1968. p. 15. Retrieved 11 February 2020 via Trove.
  7. "Cast as Juliet". The Age. 6 July 1967. p. 25.
  8. Robinson, Harry (May 2, 1968). "A Salome without passion". Sydney Morning Herald. p. 10.
  9. "Teletopics". The Age TV Radio Supplement. 9 May 1968. p. 2.