Fear and Comparison are easy bedfellows. The Old Vic’s production of Oedipus chose to get in bed and get cosy with them. Why? It is February 2025 and the memory of the incredibly inventive and masterful Robert Icke’s adaptation of Oedipus is still fresh in theatre memory.
Clearly, this production rather than keep to the courage of their convictions and continue with what was clearly an election inspired adaptation with Rami Malek and Indira Varma they panicked. The result is a production that is dominated by modern interpretative dance. It opened with what felt like 15 minutes of indeterminate modern dance before until we finally met the man himself on stage. Every time they came onto punctuate the action with interpretative dance rather than the savage conscientious tones we are used to from Greek choruses, elicited groans. Also, horror of horrors, there was pre-emptive applause before their final dance and the curtain, or in this case the stage went back to black.
Ella Hickson’s adaptation has moments of brilliance when the lines are delivered in the assured hands of Indira Varma as her Jocasta pleads with Oedipus not to consult the oracle. The language is funny, accessible and feels thoroughly modern. However, that segue into another issue with this adaptation is it can’t decide what time it should be set in. The characters are dressed in different time periods of clothing, uniformity is key.
The staging is bold. It is a big cavernous stage not unlike a big sound stage. The rain coming thundering down at the end made me think of 90s a music video.
Rami Malek as Oedipus just fails to give the range of emotions despite his physicality. There was a lack of passion so the important emotional moments just come and go. Had he had the vocal range or a strong theatrical voice a lot might have been forgiven. However, on the stage there is nowhere to hide and this should serve as a reminder to other screen actors, live theatre is an unforgiving medium.
This adaptation of Oedipus gets sucked into the chaos of a confused adaptation.
