Rami Malek as Oedipus, Indira Varma as Jocasta
Oedipus
Old Vic Theatre, London,
February 2025
Photo by Manuel Harlan
094 – Oedipus the King by Sophocles
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The city of Thebes has been overwhelmed by a terrible plague, and the people and the priests turn to their King, Oedipus, to save them, just as he had done before, when he solved the riddle of the monstrous sphinx that had terrorised the city. But unbeknownst to Oedipus, it is he himself who is the source of the scourge that the Gods inflict, for he has already fulfilled the terrible prophecy that he would kill his father and marry his mother, the truth of which now poisons the city. His anguished journey of self-discovery ends with his sacrificing himself and destroying his family to purge the moral plague.
Written more than two and a half thousand years ago, Sophocles’ tragedy, Oedipus the King, has endured not only because of the dramatic trauma of Oedipus’ personal story – his battle between his fate and his free will – but also as an allegory of authoritarian political power set against established beliefs and the voices of democracy. It has proved remarkably adaptable to modern social and political times, which is attested by the fact that not one, but two major productions of the play have already been staged in London in 2025. The first being Robert Icke’s clever updating which recast Oedipus as a populist contemporary politician, and featured electrifying performances by Mark Strong and Lesley Manville as the doomed couple. This was followed by playwright Ella Hickson’s adaptation at the Old Vic theatre, with Rami Malek and Indira Varma, which conceived the plague as an environmental catastrophe, and pitted Oedipus and Jocasta against the reactionary powers of established religion.
I am delighted to be able to talk about Sophocles’ classic with a true expert on Greek tragedy, Professor Edith Hall.
Professor Edith Hall
Edith Hall is Professor in the department of Classics and Ancient History at Durham University. Previously she was professor in Classics at Kings College in London and at Royal Holloway, University of London. She is also a broadcaster and writer, the author of part or the whole of no fewer than thirty books, including Introducing the Ancient Greeks and Greek Tragedy – Suffering under the Sun. She edited and introduced the Oxford World Classic edition of three of Sophocles’ tragedies, which includes, Oedipus the King. Loyal listeners will remember that Edith appeared on the podcast back in episode 25 when we covered Euripides’s tragedy Medea.
Listen here 025 Medea.
Recommended Play
Edith recommended Electra by Sophocles.
The Footnotes that accompany our episode on Sophocles’ tragedy Oedipus the King, include additional notes about Sophocles and Aristotle; Oedipus and the riddle of the Sphinx; the role of the Theban chorus in the play; and the power of the prophet Tiresias.
113 – Arcadia by Tom Stoppard
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Tom Stoppard’s 1993 play, Arcadia, is viewed by many as his finest play, renowned for the breadth of its intellectual interrogations and its formal invention. The play is a structural masterpiece of ideas, as well as a teasing detective story, joyous comedy, and emotionally rich exploration of love and loss.
As we record this episode a wonderful new production of Arcadia is playing at the Duke of York’s theatre in London’s West End, following its acclaimed run at the Old Vic theatre earlier this year. I am delighted to share the challenge and the pleasure of exploring Stoppard’s dazzling drama with the director of the new production, Carrie Cracknell.
112 – Glengarry Glen Ross by David Mamet
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David Mamet’s modern American classic, Glengarry Glen Ross, is a blistering commentary on the cut-throat reality of the American dream, and its poisonous impact on those who have bought into the myth and machismo of that dream. The play had its world premiere in the small Cottesloe theatre at the National Theatre in London in September 1983, and was first performed in New York the following year, winning the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Mamet also wrote the extended screenplay for the star-studded 1992 film version.
As we recorded this episode a new production of the play was playing at the Old Vic theatre in London, with an all-female cast. This is a particularly provocative idea, because one of the primary themes of this play is masculine identity, and the salesmen in this Chicago office do not hold back in their display of machismo.
To explore Mamet’s unflinching slice of 1980s dog-eat-dog capitalism, I am joined by arts journalist Mark Lawson.
111 – The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui by Bertolt Brecht
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Bertolt Brecht’s ‘gangster spectacle’, The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, is both an exuberant and funny piece of theatre, and a chillingly topical political satire. Set in the 1930s Chicago of Al Capone, Brecht presents a parody of the rise of Hitler through the character of the gangster Arturo Ui. The play is a universal cry for vigilance against the rise of unscrupulous, populist leaders who threaten democratic societies and global peace.
As we recorded this episode a new production of the play by the Royal Shakespeare Company was playing in Stratford-upon-Avon, starring Mark Gatiss as the title character.
I am delighted to be joined by both the show’s translator, playwright Stephen Sharkey, and by Brecht scholar, Professor Tom Kuhn, to guide us through Brecht’s political parody.
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