by Stephen Vagg
The earliest Australian television plays were mostly based on overseas scripts. It took over a decade for Australian television executives, particularly ones at the ABC, to rid themselves of this habit – it was not until 1969 that Australian-shot drama on the ABC was entirely written by Australians. One of the last of the “foreign adaptations” was a 1968 version of Oscar Wilde’s play Salome.
Salome is one of the artier efforts in Wilde’s oeuvre, a verse play based on the legendary Biblical tale of Salome, who danced for King Herod in order to get the head of John the Baptist. Wilde’s tale sticks to that basic story, adding his own slant. Basically, Salome is hot for John (here called Jokanaan), but he rejects her; she does a dance, and stepdad Herod orders the chop. There’s more to it than that, of course, but that is the basic premise. The concept of the “dance of the seven veils” was invented by Wilde with this play.
Wilde wrote Salome in 1891-92 (in French!), but was unable to get it produced in London due to censorship concerns. It was first performed in Paris in 1896, while Wilde was serving his prison sentence; he never saw Salome on stage in his lifetime. However, the play has proved to be surprisingly durable over the years – or perhaps not surprisingly, offering as it does some great roles, wonderful language, plenty of subtext and kink, a sexy dance and a beheading. Among the works directly inspired by Wilde’s Salome are the 1905 Richard Strauss opera Salome, the 1988 Ken Russell film, Salome’s Last Dance, and the 2011 Al Pacino docudrama which no one remembers Pacino made, Wilde Salomé.
The play was crucial to the career of Frank Thring, Jnr, one of the legendary Australian actors of the twentieth century. Thring had played Herod to great acclaim in a 1951 production of Salome in Melbourne for his own Arrow Theatre company. Thring reprised the performance when he went to London in the mid ‘50s; reception was again overwhelmingly positive (the production briefly transferred to the West End), leading to Thring being cast in a Peter Brook production of Titus Andronicus with Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh.
This, in turn, led to Thring enjoying a hugely successful career as a villain in various Hollywood epics (The Vikings, Ben Hur, El Cid, King of Kings – apparently, he rooted Jeffrey Hunter while making the latter, a tidbit I put in for sheer gossip).
Charles Laughton had played Herod in a 1953 Rita Hayworth-starring non-Wilde version of the Salome story, and Thring looked set to inherit Laughton’s mantle as chief Hollywood villain.
However, the Melbourne boy threw away what would have been a hugely lucrative career to return home, where he established himself as a key figure in the Melbourne theatre scene, particularly the Union Theatre Repertory Company (later the Melbourne Theatre Company).
Thring appeared in a number of early Australian television plays for the ABC, invariably stealing the show: Treason (1959), as a Nazi tracking the plot to assassinate Hitler; Light Me a Lucifer (1962), playing Satan who visits Sydney; Photo Finish (1965) as an author; The Heat’s On (1967), a comedy. He was a very busy guest star on shows such as Skippy. And then there was the TV version of Salome.
This was shot in Melbourne in late 1967, and broadcast the following year, with a running time of one hour. It was one of a four-part series of classical plays produced by ABC television on the theme of greed – the others were adaptations of Ben Jonson’s Volpone, and Chekov’s The Proposal and The Bear. This was reportedly the first time Salome had been adapted for television, which is pretty cool.
Thring reprised his performance as Herod and is magnificent, all booming voice and mischief, sucking in his gut, wearing an outrageous headdress, and acting up a storm. There really was no other Australian actor like him. Frederick Parslow makes a good fist of the fanatical, wiry Jokanaan, babbling away in his loin cloth, while Monica Maughan is strong as Herod’s wife, Herodias.
It was directed by Oscar Whitbread, who uses a steadicam-esque style that he did in his adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, moving the camera around and swopping in for close-ups on key moments.
The part of Salome is excellently played (and danced) by Buster Skeggs, who is probably best known for her extensive theatre work, both here and in Britain. I got in contact with Ms Skeggs via her son, actor Sam Haft (they’re a showbiz family – Sam’s dad is actor Linal Haft) and asked for her memories of Salome. She responded below:
“I was 21 years old and in Man of La Mancha at the Comedy Theatre, Melbourne, when I was asked to audition for Salome. I had to learn the last speech which was very long and quite difficult. But when I did the audition, I knew Oscar Whitbread really wanted me, as I was a trained dancer as well as a trained actress. David Goddard, the head of drama at ABC TV, had seen me in many musicals like Sweet Charity etc. and told Oscar that I was very good in those but surely, would not be able to handle Oscar Wilde’s blank verse. Oscar Whitbread very kindly sent the audition tapes to David Goddard without the names attached and David chose mine out of many. I couldn’t believe it!
“People didn’t accept triple threats in those days. You had to be either an actress, a singer or a dancer. Luckily, as my parents were both theatre people from the UK, I grew up being trained in all three.
“Frank and I got on like a house on fire right from the beginning. He was wonderful to me and he only ever gave me one note which was to say “niither” instead of “neeether”, which we had a habit of doing in Oz at the time. He once told me he wished I was a boy, which I took as being a great compliment from him. He also got me into the Melbourne Theatre Company which was another great compliment. We remained friends until his death. He even gave his approval of Linal Haft being my husband.
“A dear choreographer friend of mine called Joe Latona, whom I first worked with as a Tivoli Girl in Sydney, when I was 15, was my chosen choreographer for The Dance of the Seven Veils. It was quite risque for the time. But I was never naked, and Joe did a pretty good job for 1967. Trying to be sexy and strip while dancing in a play for ABC TV was pretty naughty. When the opera companies did Salome it was like Dance of the Seven Army Blankets.
“The costume designs were quite lovely and based on Aubrey Beardsley’s drawings.
“My one bit of bad luck was that Harold Holt decided to take a swim in the wrong place at the wrong time and, consequently, I could only do one take of the last speech, as they had to get the cameramen down to Portsea. The head on the tray was covered in chocolate sauce as it looked like blood. Oh well! Whatcha gonna do!!”
The ABC 1968 version of Salome is a beautiful, stimulating production, very theatrical, but with an excellent set (Trevor Ling was designer) and costumes (bar a few unfortunately fake beards). Unlike most Australian television plays based on foreign scripts, this production of Salome was important culturally, because the play was so crucial to Thring’s career, and Thring was so important to Australia. Immortalising his performance was reason alone to make Salome; the fact it was so well done is an added bonus.
The author thanks Sam Haft and Buster Skeggs for their assistance with this article.
For more articles like this, read:
60 Australian TV Plays of the 1950s & ‘60s
Annette Andre: My Brilliant Early Australian Career
Forgotten Australian TV Plays – The Slaughter of St Teresa’s Day
Forgotten Australian TV Plays: A Tongue of Silver
The Flawed Landmark: Burst of Summer
Forgotten Australian TV Plays: The Grey Nurse Said Nothing
Forgotten Australian TV Plays: You Can’t Win ‘Em All
Forgotten Australian TV plays: Marriage Lines
Forgotten Australian TV Plays: The Merchant of Venice
Forgotten Australian TV Plays: Seagulls Over Sorrento
Forgotten Australian TV Plays: Noeline Brown
Ten Female Drama Writers from the First Decade of Australian TV | FilmInk
Forgotten Australian TV plays: Romeo and Juliet | FilmInk
Sean Scully: From Disney to Australian TV Plays | FilmInk
Forgotten Australian TV Plays: The Long Sunset | FilmInk
Forgotten Australian TV Plays: Reflections in Dark Glasses
Forgotten Australian TV Plays: The Case of Private Hamp | FilmInk
Forgotten Australian TV Plays: The Hot Potato Boys | FilmInk
Forgotten Australian TV Plays: The Life and Death of Richard II
Forgotten Australian TV Plays: Harlequinade | FilmInk
Forgotten Australian TV Plays: Outpost | FilmInk
Forgotten Australian TV Plays: The Rape of the Belt | FilmInk
Forgotten Australian TV Plays: Murder Story | FilmInk
Forgotten Australian TV Plays: The Big Killing | FilmInk
Forgotten Australian TV Plays: Antarctic Four
Forgotten Australian TV Plays: The Tape Recorder | FilmInk
Forgotten Australian TV Plays: The Man Who Saw It | FilmInk
Forgotten Australian TV Plays: The Scent of Fear
Forgotten Australian TV Plays: The Big Client | FilmInk
Forgotten Australian TV Plays: The Recruiting Officer | FilmInk
Forgotten Australian TV Plays: Done Away With | FilmInk
Forgotten Australian TV Plays: Split Level | FilmInk
Forgotten Australian TV Plays: She’ll Be Right | FilmInk
Forgotten Australian TV plays: Reunion Day | FilmInk
Forgotten Australian TV Plays: The Cell
Forgotten Australian TV Plays: The Swagman | FilmInk
Forgotten Australian TV Plays: Cobwebs in Concrete | FilmInk
Forgotten Australian TV Plays: A Stay at Home and Across the Bridge | FilmInk
Forgotten Australian TV Plays: The Shifting Heart | FilmInk
Forgotten Australian TV plays: Kain | FilmInk
Forgotten Australian TV Plays: Rusty Bugles | FilmInk
Forgotten Australian TV Plays: A Season in Hell | FilmInk
Forgotten Australian TV Plays: Corinth House | FilmInk
Forgotten Australian TV Plays: The Tower | FilmInk
Forgotten Australian TV Plays: The Sweet Sad Story of Elmo and Me | FilmInk
Forgotten Australian TV Plays: The Drover’s Wife | FilmInk
Forgotten Australian TV Plays: Five episodes of Australian Playhouse | FilmInk
Forgotten Australian TV Plays: In the Absence of Mr Sugden | FilmInk
Forgotten Australian TV plays: The Astronauts | FilmInk
Forgotten Australian TV Plays: The Monkey Cage | FilmInk
Forgotten Australian TV Plays: The Quiet Season and Enough to Make a Pair of Sailor’s Trousers
how can we see it!
Damn interesting, thanks Stephen and Dov.
Yes, whether available to see is a point in the mind.
I was the percussionist for A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum and had the privilege of accompanying Buster Skeggs for her solo dance. It was the most enjoyable part of the play. I also got to spend time with her and her mum away from the theatre. Buster is a treasure.