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ED2011 3/5 Reviews ED2011 Theatre Reviews
Oedipus By Steven Berkoff (After Sophocles) (East Productions, Pleasance, Nottingham Theatre Royal and Liverpool Everyman)
By Jennifer Ajderian | Published on Sunday 14 August 2011
The combination of Steven Berkoff’s stylistic direction and classic Greek tragedy creates a drama saturated with tension, and flavoured with the influence of mime. The millennia-old tale of a man fighting his fate of killing his father and marrying his mother is one which shows gods toying with people. The fantastic ensemble perform admirably, but the sheer amount of melodrama is sometimes coupled with jarringly modern language, and the cast are dressed partly as chimney-sweeps and partly as slow-moving classical statues. With a backdrop that looked like a Pink Floyd album cover, the daring production sometimes seemed to be confused as to exactly where and when it was supposed to be.
Pleasance Courtyard, 3 – 29 Aug (not 10, 17, 24), 1.20pm (3.00pm), £14.00 – £17.50, fpp285.
tw rating 3/5
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