Directed by Robert Gillespie
Performed at the Tristan Bates Theatre in 2014
Oedipus The King
After Oedipus Tyrannos by Sophocles, adapted by Jeremy Kingston
Cast
Oedipus: Tom Shepherd
Kreon: Jack Klaff
Jocasta/Messenger: Clare Cameron
Shepherd: David Shaw-Parker
Priest/Corinthian: Steve Watts
Citizen 1: Judi Scott
Citizen 2: Luke Hornsby-Smith
Oedipus At The Crossroads
By Jeremy Kingston
Cast
Oedipus: Tom Shepherd
Laius: Jack Klaff
Shepherd: David Shaw-Parker
Tiresias: Richard Earthy
Young priest: Luke Hornsby-Smith
Soldier: Clare Cameron
A glorious opportunity to debate to what extent we are powerless against the inevitable forces of Fate, as viewed by Sophocles around 400BC, in an imaginative retelling of Oedipus Tyrannos by Jeremy Kingston performed alongside Jeremy’s original work, Oedipus At The Crossroads.
In Ancient Greece so many things have either no explanation, or a number of equally valid explanations, that the idea of man’s destiny being in the lap of the gods can work in several ways. It keeps people in line, checking their behaviour; it’s a help for living the right life, and of course, kings can exploit it to bully, as can religious leaders, businessmen and soldiers.
The story of Oedipus The King is widely celebrated, but what would have happened if King Laius and Queen Jocasta hadn’t listened to the Oracle and instead, had kept Oedipus at home and brought him up to be a nice normal little royal prince? And how on earth was he persuaded to kill his father and marry his mother within a few days? You can read more on this in Are You Going to do That Little Jump? – The Adventure Continues
