White hot, stripped down to its essentials, this searing version of Sophocles’ Oedipus, adapted and directed by Robert Icke may well be the defining drama for our times, where fake news and the lies of politicians are destroying our society. In Dutch with English surtitles, it is produced by the Internationaal Theater Amsterdam (formerly the Toneelgroep) whose Artistic Director, Ivo van Hove is well-known for his iconoclastic productions. So it is not surprising that Robert Icke, also known for his original re-workings of the classics (Hamlet, Mary Stewart, Uncle Vanya and the Oresteia), has found the perfect partnership and the result is explosive. This is a thriller with a real time countdown.
Oedipus... may well be the defining drama for our times.
Oedipus is re-imagined as a politician on election results’ night. Starting with an apparently documentary film of him rallying his supporters with one last speech he declares that the country is sick, poisoned by lies. This is a clever nod to Sophocles where Thebes has the plague. Oedipus promises a change. That this message of hope is a parallel to Obama’s acceptance speech, is suggested inside the HQ where we see Oedipus’ poster in the same two-tone colour as Shepard Fairey’s for Obama.
Truth emerges as the chief theme. Is the truth withheld a lie? Does a politician’s private life matter? What do people need to know? Creon (Aus Greidanus Jr.) is furious that Oedipus has gone ‘off-script’ by saying he will investigate Laius’ death (Jocaste’s first husband). As campaign-manager and spin-doctor, Creon wants to control Oedipus’ image whereas Oedipus wants the truth. It is this need to know himself that leads to tragedy as the red digital countdown clock ticks away.
As in the original we know the outcome early on – Tiresias, the blind seer, announces that Oedipus has killed his father and had sex with his mother. But Icke is faithful to Sophocles in the unravelling of the truth. The revelations come in the same order. As for the Ancient Greeks, the audience can appreciate how the gradual unveiling is handled and in this case it is with supreme subtlety and contemporary resonance.
Unlike in Sophocles, Oedipus and Jocaste are already married and their teenage children and Oedipus’ foster mother are given prominence. There are some delightful scenes showing the tensions of a close-knit famly over a pre-victory supper, using the sexual life of the two sons as instances of what can be revealed and what withheld from their parents; Antigone, their daughter, discovers her parents having sex on the floor in a half embarrassing and funny scene. Modern issues such as whether to turn off the life-support system of a dying man, paedophilia, gay sexuality, car crashes are introduced but in a totally convincing way.
Performed with outstanding sensitivity and skill by Hans Kesting as Oedipus, both as patriarchal authority, at times a bully, at others lovingly fond of his children and by Marieke Heebink as Jocaste, combining warmth and a wonderful sense of humour with intense love for Oedipus. Love, whether sexual or for family, and the friendship and loyalty of staff is also an inextricable theme.
Jocaste’s final revelation to Oedipus is met with silence to extrordinary dramatic effect after so many words of lies and half-truths. It is silence that expresses the truth best, just as true sight is given to the blind Tiresias. Jocaste is happy to carry on as they were, their love more important than truth. Oedipus, as we know, blinds himself. The modern representation of this with the stiletto heel of one of his wife’s shoes, suggested (we see nothing gruesome) but it is shocking enough.
A black screen comes down and we hear the loud cheers and drums of his supporters on his election success. It is arguable that this would be an effective ending without the actual one given: a flashback where Oedipus leads a blindfolded Jocaste into their campaign HQ. The blindfold removed, she is delighted with the clean, white room. A bit cheesy? An attempt at pathos and irony? Whatever, this production will be a new classic of importance at both a political and personal level.
