PicksInSix Review: OEDIPUS REX Court Theatre
COURT’S ‘OEDIPUS REX’ - SWEEPING VISUAL EPIC!
The first installment of Charles Newell’s brilliant production of the Oedipus Trilogy–Sophocles’ “Oedipus Rex,” now playing at Court Theatre in a limited run—stars Kelvin Roston Jr. a monumental performance at the center of Nick Rudall’s crystal-clear translation. Newell has assembled a superb cast for one of the beautiful and concise production—80 minutes, no intermission—and reconstructs the tragic story into a powerful statement. It is a towering accomplishment for Court’s artistic director, who is celebrating more than 25 years at Chicago’s premier theater for classic interpretation.
Roston’s gripping portrayal of Oedipus evokes the conflict within of a man whose own destruction and morality is foretold by an oracle: murder and incest in a series of incomprehensible events that unravel with efficiency and purpose. The story takes place within a culture reeling with deception and deceit against a backdrop of a society in Thebes in turmoil and suffering from the plague.
It is here—on the expansive, stark-white John Culbert tiered scenic design—that Newell’s chorus embodies the sick and the imperiled of Thebes and the conscience of Roston’s Oedipus, whose dark lavender Jacqueline Firkins robe both elevates and isolates him from everything around him.
Kate Collins plays Jocasta with an astounding degree of empathy, rising up to love the tormented and troubled Oedipus and then turning on the realization that the oracle prophecy had been realized. Timothy Edward Kane is marvelous as the astute Creon, brother of Jocasta.
The chorus members play multiple roles throughout including Sheldon D. Brown as Priest, Christopher Donahue as Teiresias, Wendy Robie as Corinth Shepard, Mark Spates Smith as Chorus Leader, Stef Tover as Theban Shepard and Aeriel Williams, whose portrayal of Antigone, like Roston’s Oedipus and Kane’s Creon, continues into the next-season trilogy.
Newell’s staging—a fast-paced, sweeping visual epic—and Roston’s breathtaking performance make for one of the finest opportunities to fully understand and appreciate the extraordinary complexity of Greek tragedy.
PHOTOS|Michael Brosilow
COURT THEATRE
Presents
SOPHOCLES’
OEDIPUS REX
through December 8
5535 S. ELLIS AVE.
CHICAGO
(773) 753-4472
WEBSITE
TICKETS
Hear our CONVERSATIONS podcast with Court Theatre Artistic Director Charles Newell
For more reviews, visit: Theatre In Chicago