Speaker
Description
The figure of Salomé has captivated artists for centuries, evolving from a nameless character in the New Testament into one of the most iconic figures in Western culture. In Yaël Farber's recent adaptation, Salomé (2017), this ancient narrative is radically reimagined. The young female protagonist gains multiple voices: an older version of herself who narrates her story and a chorus of women who echo her vow. Farber’s Salomé resists the reductive image of the femme fatale popularised by Oscar Wilde, instead emerging as a complex subject who challenges the representational crisis surrounding her portrayal. This paper situates Farber’s work within the theoretical framework of embodiment and performativity as explored in performance theories, such as Rebecca Schneider’s The Explicit Body in Performance (1997). By granting Salomé a multiplicity of voices, the production destabilises the patriarchal gaze and reclaims narrative authority through embodied performance. This intervention not only interrogates the historical silencing of women in biblical and literary traditions but also exemplifies how contemporary theatre can move beyond representational paradigms toward performative acts that generate meaning in the moment of enactment and deliberately avoid the erotification of the female body. Ultimately, Farber’s Salomé offers a compelling case study for examining whether performance can resolve, or at least reconfigure, the representational crisis by privileging presence over fixed narratives.
| Keywords | adaptation, performance theory, Salomé, Yaël Farber |
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