Oedipus at Wyndham’s Theatre

Stunning, shocking, spellbinding – this retelling of the Oedipus myth by Robert Icke has must-see written all over it.

Oedipus. Lesley Manville (Jocasta) & Mark Strong (Oedipus). Credit - Manuel Harlan. — Oedipus. Lesley Manville (Jocasta) & Mark Strong (Oedipus). Credit – Manuel Harlan.

With two of our best actors Mark Strong (his portrayal of Oedipus is magisterial) and Lesley Manville (her Jocasta is superbly realised) on stage together the show has a head start. But it’s so much more than that. Robert Icke is the writer and director. He is, as it were, the controlling mind. And in him, we are in safe hands. He knows what he’s doing and he does it with panache, elan and bold brush strokes. For me what’s so thrilling is that he has taken a classic from the Greek tradition over 2,500 years ago and made it fresh, relevant and pertinent for us in 2024. The integration between the Greek tragedy and our current concerns is both original and believable. He has a coherent and compelling vision of what he wants to say and has the imagination to put it on the stage in a form that works as entertainment. That is easy to say but very hard to do. On a more mundane note, this production puts artistic considerations above commercial pressures. Realising that an interval would seriously weaken the momentum of the piece Icke has decided to do the show in two hours with no break. This is necessary and brave. Oedipus works with an unrelenting remorseless logic that builds to a shattering climax that an interval would totally undermine. I can always tell when I’m in a compelling show: time flies. Last night the two hours of traffic on stage seemed like minutes. I can give no more resounding endorsement. One knows when a show is brilliant it just totally takes you over and all you need do is let it wash over you. Buy, beg, borrow, blag, or bluff a ticket just to see it. It’s one of those life experiences and memories that will stay with you forever.

Thrillingly, this Oedipus joins up the Western dramatic tradition and gives us a wonderful sense of a living inheritance. It’s not just that Sophocles wrote this play in Greece 2,500 years ago rather it’s that the myths, ideas and people he created are so much a part of the cultural furniture we all carry around in our heads. What Robert Icke and his team of cast, crew and creatives have achieved is to make that live again for us right now. It’s thrilling and I’m so grateful for that and that I’ve seen this play. To have a sense that one is part of such a rich cultural heritage is so life-affirming. It is so important that our young people have access to this. It would be wonderful if ticket prices could be pitched so that younger people can see this show. Just off the top of my head, I can recall references to Shakespeare’s King Lear – the blinding scenes, Leonardo da Vinci’s painting of the Last Supper (the family meal celebration scene), Moses in the basket – Oedipus abandoned in the forest, Cain and Abel – the two brothers Eteocles and Polyneices bickering, Hamlet – the death of Laius, the paintings of Mark Rothko – see for yourself, Freudians slips – ‘giving head’, and so many more. What all this adds up to is not some shallow showing off of the Western world’s greatest hits from Plato to NATO but rather a sense that we are inescapably in a tradition that provides us with our mental furniture with which we attempt to understand the world. It’s in this spirit that I believe this to be a play that is required viewing. After last night’s performance, I had the exhilarating feeling that our dramatic tradition (from The Greeks to Greek Street, Soho) joins up, that the circle is complete and never-ending. Just as this production ends at the beginning so that the story can be retold once again.

Review by John O’Brien

Behind every great man is a great woman.

Election night. The polls predict a landslide victory. Everything is about to change.

Starring the internationally renowned, multi-award-winning Mark Strong and Lesley Manville, Sophocles’ epic tragedy is transformed into an essential, explosive human thriller.

After his revelatory Oresteia, visionary director Robert Icke (1984, The Doctor) reimagines another Ancient Greek tragedy, bringing the secrets of the past bursting into the present.

Cast: Mark Strong (Oedipus) and Lesley Manville (Jocasta) are joined by Samuel Brewer (Teiresias), Michael Gould (Creon), Sara Hazemi (Lichas/Understudy Antigone), Gary McDonald (Driver), Bhasker Patel (Corin), Phia Saban (Antigone), Jordan Scowen (Eteocles), June Watson (Merope) and James Wilbraham (Polyneices), with Jim Creighton (Ensemble/Understudy Oedipus & Creon), Derek Elroy (Ensemble/Understudy Corin, Teiresias & Driver), Celia Nelson (Ensemble/ Understudy Jocasta & Merope) and Jake Rory (Ensemble/Understudy Polyneices, Eteocles & Lichas).

Creatives: Hildegard Bechtler (Set Design), Wojciech Dziedzic (Costume Design), Natasha Chivers (Lighting Design), Tom Gibbons (Sound Design), Tal Yarden (Video Design) and Julia Horan CDG (Casting Director).

Sonia Friedman Productions presents
OEDIPUS
Wyndham’s Theatre
4 October 2024 to 4 January 2025