Old Vic, London
February 4, 2025
We have a lot to learn from the Greeks. For example, introducing a dance chorus into dramas as was a feature in Ancient Greece. The Old Vic production of Oedipus co-directed by Matthew Warchus and Hofesh Shechter is a fine example of how well it can work in modern context. The opening moment; a sudden blackout and a wall of sound, the dancers pulsing in muscular rhythm in cold hazy light sets the stage for a momentous drama.
Ella Hickson adapts the myth about the cursed family of Thebes in text that is sparse and contemporary enabling a straight run-through of around 100 minutes. The set is minimal, the action driven by Tom Visser’s atmospheric lighting using cool monochrome for interiors and a fiery glow for the scorched exteriors, while the music by Shechter with additional sound by Christopher Shutt is totally immersive.
Photo Manuel Harlan
As Oedipus, Rami Malek gives a remarkable performance. His stature is not in the heroic mould. Rather he’s a man who by chance enjoys good fortune but inside there is a deep-seated defect, a virus waiting to break out. His body and manner convey the inner tensions as the clues start to fit together and the terrible truth is revealed. Speaking into the microphone he has the superficial polish of an American politician. “I feel your pain,” he tells the suffering people of Thebes, yet his love for the daughters and Jocasta is real. It’s a truthful portrait of a damaged character, nuanced and thoughtful.
Jocasta, Indira Varma, is more pragmatic and sceptical, a complex and very modern woman. She has little respect for oracles and much of the domestic fiction centres on Oedipus’ belief. Deviating from Sophocles’ play and despite her brother, Creon, telling of her death by suicide she appears to quietly leaves Thebes as her marriage descends into chaos. She questions, very sensibly, why she should be punished for a sin she did not know she was committing.
Photo Manuel Harlan
As the blind seer, Tiresias, Cecilia Noble, is a force of nature. She has little empathy with the Theban. “People are always dying, it’s their defining feature.” And briskly stating, “I don’t do evidence.”
It’s the ordinary folk who introduce humanity. The Corinthian, played by Joseph Myall and the Shepherd, Nicholas Woodeson, are warm and caring although it is left to them to reveal the terrible truth. Nicholas Khan, as Creon, always a devisive character, shifts with chameleon dexterity and the final chant from the crowd, “Creon, Creon” heralds his ascension to the throne.
Shechter’s dancers get a generous amount of stage time and space. Their first entrance brings the audience fully into the theatrical present but other sections have less success in enriching the drama. An overlong scene in the final moments, where the dancers celebrate the coming of rain, feels strangely detached from the immediate horrors. Despite the enthusiasm and talent of an interesting cohort of dancers, less would have been more. However, I hope we get more such collaborations.
Oedipus is at the Old Vic to March 29, 2025.