Unique among his works, Oscar Wilde’s play Salomé (1893) was written originally in French. Joseph Donohue’s new translation of the horrific New Testament story has recast Wilde’s shockingly radical drama in the natural idiomatic language of our own day. Presenting a colloquial and spare American English version of Wilde’s consciously stylized French, Donohue’s approach gives full value to the Irish author’s dark ruminations on evil and perversity in a world on the brink of a new, unsettling Christian dispensation.

Join the University of Virginia Press and Joseph Donohue at Live Arts on Friday, December 2nd at 7:30 pm for a staged reading of this new translation of Salomé, directed by UVA Department of Drama Professor Kate Burke. $25 to RSVP in advance (with reserved seating) or pay what you can at the door. The reading will take place from 7:30-8:30. Following the performance will be a discussion with the cast and a book signing with the translator. Guests 21 and older are then invited to join us after the performance for a reception on the terrace, hosted by C&O Restaurant.

For more information, please contact Emily Grandstaff at egrandstaff@virginia.edu / 434-982-2932.