Greek Tragedy LA Style

Wow. Another great night of theater at the Woolly Mammoth where I sawOedipus el Rey. This was a new version of Oedipus Rex, set amidst a Chicano community, in the barrio and prison, that was powerfully affecting. The theater was reconfigured so the stage was like a fashion runway coming out where seats normally are, so I was about five feet from the outside corner of the stage. Like two of the last three plays I’ve seen it started with an actor on the stage as the audience filed in. It was a small cast and all of the action was very present, almost in your face, the stage being so close, as well as the fact that actors came in through the audience as well. When Oedipus and his mother have sex, this was (tastefully) done in full nudity, fully lit, right in front of me. It was very courageous acting. All of the acting was terrific. This is another one of those Woolly plays I’ve seen recently where I had very little knowledge or expectation going in, and have been very pleasantly surprised. I’m so glad I saw this.