CULTURE Senior Production – Oedipus Rex
Christ’s College and Rangi Ruru Girls’ School Senior Drama Production By Sophocles First performed circa 429BCE Translated by George Theodoridis Directed by Robyn Peers In 2020, during lockdown, I watched a performance of Aeschylus’ play The Persians streamed live from the ancient theatre at Epidarus. This reawakened my long-held ambition
to direct a classical play. The College/Rangi Ruru
performance of Oedipus Rex was an updated version of Sophocles’ 429BC play using a modern translation and a mixture of ancient and contemporary conventions. The Greek tradition contrasts dialogue by the main characters with the storytelling and commentary by the chorus. The challenge for my company was to bring this potentially static theatre form to life. I was fortunate to have a superb cast who were willing to take risks, experiment and run with new ideas. The chorus worked hard with choral speaking and movement to enhance the words they were saying. They worked effectively to ensure that they learned not only their lines, but the words around them so they were faultless in their very difficult presentations. The main characters gave Sophocles’ words their all. Special mention must go to the huge work of Nathan Orchard, who carried the play as Oedipus moved from confident King to degraded exile, and Mimi Boister,
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Christ’s College Canterbury
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