In October 2024 Oedipus at Wyndhams theatre opened up with megastars Mark Strong and Lesley Manville. Now in February we have another Oedipus hot on the heals and one month after the first one closed. This one stars megastar (and Oscar winner) Rami Malek as the titular character along with Indira Varma as his wife Jocasta.
In case you didn’t know, Oedipus, which is first and foremost a famous Greek play/tragedy is also the word that describes a person who has sexual desires for their opposite-sex parent while viewing their same sex parent as a rival. In Greek mythology it was the King of Thebes who unwittingly killed his father and married his mother.
So for 100 minutes straight thru with no interval The Old Vic presents Oedipus. It all starts out very dramatic: a shadow of a face on the front of the opening curtain, then freestyle dancers take to the stage to set up the drama and tension, and when the actors appear you can feel the audience holding their breathe. On a bare bones stage, the story unravels – it’s pretty much all about the acting. And the acting is fine, they are all very relaxed and suited to their roles. And we the audience are the townspeople who listen to Oedipus (Rami Malek), who has just become leader of Thebes – a drought stricken city, and he tells us that there will be water soon.
Varma is superb, Cecilia Noble as Tiresias cuts a strong figure on the stage, as does Nicholas Woodeson as the Shepherd. So how is Malek? In his first stage role since 2007 (according to online sources) he is fierce and determined, with a strong forceful voice, but I’m still on the fence if he is suited for this role. He is not as comfortable on stage as the other actors are – he appears to be stiff and a bit unsure of himself, but perhaps that is because the role calls for a delicate balance between determination and authority, is where he just falls a bit short. But what is really wrong with this production is the aforementioned dancers. They appear and take over the stage several times, interrupting the drama and tension we are so getting absorbed into. And even at the end, the last dance session is too long, and underscores the big reveals at the end. If the dancing were to be cut in half, then this production would be tighter and more dramatic, but to be honest I just wanted the dancers to get off the stage and let the play tell its story. Oedipus is good but a bit frustrating, which is probably what the Greeks intended.
