Act one

Barry John on Oedipus Rex,the play that smashes into your emotions

Barry John on Oedipus Rex,the play that smashes into your emotions
Acknowledging that a classic can be ancient or modern,its fullest resonance is in terms of it having withstood the test of time. So my choice is one of the oldest plays,Oedipus Rex by Sophocles. When performed well,it has the power to engage and move audiences,even those unaware of ancient Greek mythology. Its classic status,first recognised by Aristotle in his Poetics,is derived from its brilliant fusion of form and content. I never saw the play until I directed it at the National School of Drama in 1978. Till then,I had only heard of it in college.

The plays form follows the contemporary conventions of tragedy,with dramatic scenes interspersed by musical sequences sung and danced by a chorus. That it can be spectacular in its staging,choreography,costumes is essential to the term classic.

The plays content illustrates Sophocles genius for storytelling and dialogue. It is a classic whodunnit? as King Oedipus takes up the challenge to discover the murderer of the previous king,Laius. All violent action is kept offstage in accordance with Greek custom,but the play ends with Oedipus having blinded himself. The classic stature of the play is also infused in its meaning,its mystery. It is not simply that the above events happen,and that they happen so dramatically; it is also that they smash into you at a deeply emotional level,and scream for answers,for reasons. The play is a truly disturbing experience that forces you to reflect on the dark and dangerous aspects of human nature. I have not been under its influence directly. It is more to do with the fact that once you have wrestled with it,it haunts you. I inflict this play on actors in training because it presents them with some of the greatest challenges they can confront.

The central issue of identity is still relevant,in fact,curiously modern. Who am I? is a question each one of us confronts. Oedipus,although intelligent and heroic,is blind to the truth of who he really is. When he thought that he had escaped his fate,he realises that he was actually running to meet it. And his whole deluded life comes crashing down,all in one day.