Premiere of Oscar Wilde's Salomé in Paris (1896)

Oscar Wilde's play Salomé premiered in Paris on 11 February 1896. The performance occurred while Wilde was imprisoned for gross indecency. The Théâtre de l'Œuvre company staged the play in French as part of a double bill at the Théâtre de la Comédie-Parisienne, marking the first performance of the work during Wilde's lifetime.

Episodes

Background and detail

Background. Salomé was published in 1893 but remained unperformed until 1896. By the time of the premiere, Wilde had been convicted of gross indecency and sentenced to two years' hard labour. He was incarcerated from 25 May 1895 to 18 May 1897, meaning the 1896 performance occurred during his imprisonment.

Performance Details. The play was first given in the original French on 11 February 1896. It was a one-off performance by the Théâtre de l'Œuvre company at the Théâtre de la Comédie-Parisienne. The production served as the second part of a double bill with Romain Coolus's comedy Raphaël.

Theatrical Context. The Théâtre de l'Œuvre, active from 1893 to 1899, was known for premiering modernist plays by foreign dramatists including Wilde. The company operated in various Parisian theatres, including the Nouveau-Théâtre, where other significant works were staged in 1896.

People involved

Sources

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.