Oedipus

Tour synopsis, cast & creatives

Election night. The polls predict a landslide victory. Everything is about to change. Oedipus Rex is an Athenian tragedy written by the ancient tragedian Sophocles in the fifth century BC and first performed on the Greek theatre stage in 429 BC. It was the second of the playwright's three surviving Theban plays to have been about Oedipus, who prior to the start of the play becomes the King of Thebes after unknowingly fulfilling a prophecy that he would murder his father Laius and wed his mother Jocasta. Oedipus took his mother as his queen after solving the Sphinx's riddle. The play itself follows Oedipus's investigation in finding the killer of Laius in order to end a plague that has befell the city of Thebes. He is utterly unaware that the murderer is in fact himself, and after learning of this patricide he has committed as well as his incestual maternal relationship, he gouges out his eyes while Jocasta hangs herself. The tragedy is widely regarded by Greek scholars as a masterpiece from ancient Greek tragedy.

Cast/Performers

Mark Strong (Oedipus), Lesley Manville (Jocasta)

Creatives/Company

Producer: Sonia Friedman Productions
Book by: Sophocles
Adapted by: Robert Icke
Director: Robert Icke