Being that Sophocles’ Oedipus the King is a play that I have read before, the performance of it helped me to understand it better. I was able to fully connect the emotions such as despair, anger, and hope to the characters and have a better interpretation of how Oedipus, Creon, Tiresias, and Jocasta feel.
This is a murder mystery play that included the help myths and oracles and gods in order to solve it. The finding of the murderer of Laius would not only solve this mystery but also cure the city of the plague, what initiated this investigation.
Throughout the play, Oedipus was torn. He did not know who or what to believe, not wanting to know the ugly truth. At certain times, he would come to terms that he is in fact the murderer of his father, Laius, only to soon want more evidence to further confirm the oracle. In the end, Oedipus realized that it was the gods who have created this horrible fate for him. Instead of killing himself like his wife and mother, Jocasta, he blinded himself, even though Oedipus himself says that he should die because Apollo had made him evil. This shows that he was too cowardly end his own life and will only continue to cause grief to all.

The performance of Oedipus the King was one that was interesting. Five actors in total played each of the characters, some acting as more than one character. You were able to differentiate the characters played by one actor or actress by their minor outfit changes. Other than that, they were wearing jeans, dress shoes, and blazers, clothes not pertaining to the time period of Oedipus the King. Also, there was only one set design that was made to represent the palace.
Never attending a stage reading before, it was unfamiliar to me to watch the actors read directly from the script. However, after a few minutes into the play, it became part of their character. The actors were able to express a lot of emotion into their performance. They also not only used the stage but the entire auditorium, which I liked.

The staged reading of Oedipus the King serves to highlight essential themes ranging from denial and prophetical indulgence, to the downfall of having excess pride. Oedipus, who has killed Laius, the previous king, swears to discover the perpetrator. When the prophet, messenger, and shepherd share their individual stories, the killer traces back to Oedipus. One significant characteristic of Oedipus is his pride. He holds himself in such high esteem that he ultimately tries to cheat fate (which he fails to). The tragedy of this play becomes clear when Tiresias, the prophet, accurately predicts Oedipus’ killing his own father, despite how hard Oedipus has tried to avoid his destiny.

One of my favorite scenes involved the prophet Tiresias, in which we can clearly see that she is not willing to stand in the presence of Oedipus. In this scene, Oedipus’ character is clear when he yells at Tiresias, denying that he would ever commit the crime. Jocasta, his wife, tries unsuccessfully to stop his obsession with finding the real killer. Oedipus persisted and the killer was found, thus leading to Jocasta’s committing suicide and Oedipus’ gouging his eyes out.

Having come to watch the play with little to no prior understanding of the play, I was not as immersed in the script as I should have been. The dialogue was hard to decipher at times – primarily due to the characters’ unfamiliar way of speech. However, what was helpful in understanding the plot was the way the actors portrayed their characters. Oedipus, having too much pride, seemed haughty and talked with a rough tone. The actor was authoritative and suited the character very well. The messenger seemed meek and cautious. What surprised me was that there were only a total of five actors, with a few of them acting out different roles. I did not know this until I looked at the pamphlet, which goes to show how adept they were at changing characters. Although the staged reading of Oedipus tends to be a bit detached as opposed to an actual enactment, the tone used for each character gave dynamic to the play.

Oedipus the King by Sophocles was the second stage reading I have attended at Baruch College. The last stage reading I attended was called “Shakuntala”, and I went to the stage reading for my theatre class. The stage reading of Oedipus the King was much simpler than the stage reading I attended of “Shakuntala”, but the actors in Oedipus the King did a great job of portraying the different characters. The actors were able to act with a lot of emotion while reading off their scripts, which made the play more enjoyable for me to watch. I liked how the actors “broke the third wall”, and entered scenes from the back of the theatre, which helped keep my interest. I also liked how there was a simple back drop (pictured below) to add to the setting.

After watching the stage reading of the play, I felt bad for Oedipus from the beginning. I can only imagine how painful it could be, to grow up as an orphan, and then for there to be a prophecy of you killing your father and marrying your mother, while not even knowing who they even are. All I could think about was how there really wasn’t much Oedipus could have done to prevent his destiny. I actually found it pretty ironic how the harder Oedipus tried to avoid his destiny, the more likely it was to occur. There just wasn’t any way that Oedipus was able to avoid his ultimate destiny from coming true.

Considering that the stage reading was the first time I have ever heard of the story of Oedipus the King, I found it really intense how the story ends. I didn’t really know what to expect during the stage reading, and had no idea how the play could possibly end, but I did not expect the play to end the way it did, in such tragedy. When Oedipus enters to see that the Queen had commit suicide, and Oedipus immediately tortures himself and removes his own eyes, and then begs Creon to kill him. I was not expecting such a tragic ending.  My overall feeling of the Stage reading was that it was enjoyable, and well executed, and helped me understand the story in only an hour which was pleasant.

Initially, I did not have a very clear understanding of the story of Oedipus, however, after attending the staged reading, I can see that it is a tragic and ironic story. I had no idea what the story of Oedipus was about before seeing the play because I did not read it and I did not do any research on it. So I was very confused in the beginning of the staged reading, and I had assumed that the story was mainly about Oedipus trying to find answers from the Gods regarding the plague in Thebes. When Oedipus met Tiresias, The Blind Seer, and she had told him the prophecy, it confused me even more. Instead of giving him an insight on the future of Thebes, she told him that he is his father’s murderer, and that he married his mother.

Oedipus slowly pieces everything together while trying to figure out who was responsible for his father’s murder, even though Jocasta, his wife, pleaded for him to let it go. Oedipus was persistent and that led to the queen’s suicide, which caused him to feel incredibly regretful and guilty that he took out his own eyes. The tragedy was that not only was he left with no queen, he also discovered that he was indeed the incestuous murderer Tiresias had predicted. I thought the ending was very ironic, dramatic, and disgusting because the woman he married turned out to be his mother.

Even though I was confused for most of the beginning of the staged reading, I thought the actors did a wonderful job portraying the characters. I expected the acting to be very mediocre because I was not aware that it was going to be professional actors. However, the acting exceeded my expectations because all of the actors put in effort into playing their part and showed emotion that I could not have felt if I had read the play. I was disappointed in how the stage was set up because I saw a Broadway show the night before, so I had an unrealistic expectation of how the stage would be set up; nicer and more elaborate than just the posters as the background and mannequin heads as statues.

In the picture below, the individual’s mind is controlled by two other beings, giving  the observer, in this case us,  an impression that he/she is happy.  The image depicts how the character isn’t able to express their feelings based on their own emotions. Similarly, in the poem, “The Chimney Sweeper,” the narrator is under duress of his parents who make him feel obligated to display happiness. They are portrayed as religious oriented people, who have much respect for God. He on the other hand has contrary views, expressing, “……God& his Priest & King, Who make up a heaven of our misery.”

Likewise, in the photo, there is no telling how that individual’s well being is being overlooked. It’s a facade being held as a result of potential dependency and vulnerability.In the photo, the one being controlled is unclear as well as those controlling him. In the poem however, there is less ambiguity.  His mother and father assume the well being of their child and therefore disregard his resentment against his job description. So not only does he feel controlled, there’s also a feeling of being misunderstood, which is crucial in his/her case.”And because I am happy, &dance &sing, They think they have done no injury.” However, as you can  see as one of the parents is raking parts of his brain, he’s causing internal damage that can’t be seen by the bear eye, but only felt within. Hence, his pain causing him to sing, “the notes of woe.” Which then leaves a reader curios to know whether or not his parents are invoking thoughts that are best in their interests or their offspring’s?

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Having read the story of Oedipus in high school, I came into the staged reading with a pretty clear picture of the play. I was not sure the abridged version I was seeing would be able to get the full story in, but they seemed to get the bulk of it in within the 65 minute playing time. It started out quite slow with the actors not doing such a great job with their scripts in hand, but I gave them the benefit of the doubt at first because it was a staged reading. However, as the play moved I slowly became more and more engrossed in the story, completely forgetting about the scripts in their hand and barely realizing that a few of the same actors played multiple characters.  I did like the contemporary language the script was written in; it made the story much easier to follow and allowed me to fully understand everything that was going on. When I read it in high school, I was reading a more archaic version of the text which may have led to me not noticing a few of the details of the play. This more modern version, even though abridged, allowed me to pay attention to the details; and having the actors read out the script made so I was actually seeing what I had read. In my opinion the end of the story could have been played out more dramatically; it went by far too quickly, not allowing the audience to really put together all the pieces and really understand what was unfolding. Overall, it was acted out quite well by all involved. Yet, for some reason I wasn’t impressed with the gentleman who played Oedipus, relative to the rest of the cast. All the other actors really convinced me they were several different people and convinced me what I was watching was almost really happening. Oedipus just did not click for me, I feel he may have overplayed the character which made it difficult to listen to and at times upset me. It also may have been because he was the only one to play only one character (also being the main character) and that allowed me to really watch his every move and may have led to a little overanalyzing on my part.

When going to see the play Sophocles, Oedipus the King at Baruch I wasn’t sure what to expect. I have never attended a play before in Baruch and was interested to see what the experience would be like. I was happily surprised to see the gorgeous theatre’s that are just a few floors below the classrooms I am in everyday. The performance of the play was exciting and well executed. Even though it was a staged reading, the actors had enough talent to distract the crowd from this and had the audience (including myself)  immersed in the play. There were many important scenes throughout this play but my favorite scene was Oedipus finding out the truth about his life. Oedipus, who was an orphan, did not know who is biological parents were. When Oedipus overheard some men talking about how he wasn’t the son of the king and queen, he journeyed to the oracle of Delphi to find out the truth. When Oedipus reaches his destination he doesn’t receive the answer he intended to get.  He is informed that he will murder his father and sleep with his mother. You could imagine this to be troubling news for anybody to hear, but even more troublesome for someone who doesn’t even know their biological parents. Later on in the play, Oedipus is encountered by a shepherd who may know more about his childhood. After some back and forth and threats of torture, the shepherd gives in to King Oedipus and tells him what he knows. During this scene the actors did a remarkable job relaying the dramatics and importance of the scene. The emotions of the characters let the audience know how vital this scene is to the wholeness of the play. During this scene Oedipus finds out that his wife, Jocasta, is actually his mother, and that his father has died from matters influenced from him. This scene connects the prophetic remarks Oedipus is told at the oracle of Delphi to reality. All the prophecies Oedipus was told comes to light in this very captivating scene and that is why it was my favorite one.

Oedipus the king is an emblem of monarchy. Eager to display his strength, fairness and  “humility”, but fails to acknowledge his fatal flaw, his “truth.” Much of his life was a lie, and it was deliberated that way to save him from his biggest enemy, “himself.” Instead of giving his attention to more important matters, he falls into intense curiosity to find out about his origin and his background. The Gods, being aware of his destiny, urge the messengers to be a bit restrictive to the information they relay to him. Oedipus, on the other hand can’t settle for just runaround answers and threatens to exile and execute for their lack of subordination. At this point, I realized, Oedipus, just like many other kings are overly power driven that their advisers or counsel can’t really “console” or “advise” them, because they feel as though they know it all.

Seeing the play into life truly opened my eyes. It left me with a series of questions, such as; why did he kill his father? It was clear that his father and his entourage almost ran him over and he decided to kill everyone in the carriage, but why was murder his first course of action? Why did his mother lie in bed with him and continue to be his wife throughout much of the play despite the fact that she knew he was the culprit for the murder of her husband?That in itself, is cruel enough, adding on to the fact she tended to him in her womb for 9 months. Was incestuous relationships common during that era?Also, was his mother justified for killing herself, considering she literally put herself into her own predicament. All the decisions she made was against both her and her son’s interest, so why feel pitiful for yourself at the end when the inevitable truth comes out? Most ironical, in the beginning of the play, they spoke about how Oedipus would be blinded by darkness and mental delusion that would forever haunt his life, and it actually happened as said. I thought, it was simply a metaphor insinuating he’d be devastated and not be able to forgive himself.

But the biggest question of all that lies unanswered as many critique’s would pick different sides is, who do we as the audience feel sorry for?Oedipus the King, who wouldn’t keep quiet and follow the course of his rule, or the mother who wrongfully took advantage of her son, rather than leave the throne or lie in the shadows?

The theme of Oedipus The King was deemed to be simplistic in the beginning. As the play opened, it went that Oedipus, the king of Thebes, in an effort to rescue his citizens from a dreadful plague, was persuaded by the Oracle to decipher the assassin of the previous king Laius. Pivoting away from simplicity, the plot gradually unfolded itself with tragic ironies with Oedipus finding out the killer to be himself. The string of ironies first started when Oedipus was abandoned by his parents Laius and Jocasta, for they believed in the Oracle’s prophecy that Oedipus would kill his own father. Yet despite their efforts against fate, Oedipus not only survived, he came back to Thebes, killed Laius without realizing he had assassinated the King and his own father. More cynically, as he arrived at Thebes, he and Jocasta were married. This outrageous marriage between son and mother came to light when the shepherd, who rescued him at his birth, revealed the whole truth.
The tragedy reflected the degree to which the ancient Greek society believed in mystical power. In Sophocles’ time, the convictions of the people were mostly derived from and manipulated by the supernatural, which prompted social immoralities. Had it not been for their belief in the prophecies of the Oracle, Oedipus’s parents wouldn’t have wanted to kill their own son, and Oedipus wouldn’t have mistakenly killed his father and got married with Jocasta.
To emphasize the tragedies that happened to Oedipus, the staged reading successfully created a contradiction between the presentation of the King in the opening and that of the end. In conveying the condescending manners and arrogance of King Oedipus, Dana Watkins impressed me with the confidence projected from his clear voice. However, as the play was coming to an end, the director was able to manifest the frenzy and painfulness inside Oedipus through the dramatic makeup on Dana’s eyes, as Oedipus raked out his eyes after knowing the truth. The contrary not only added dramatic elements to the play’s ending but also provoked a pitiful sentiment within the audience for the ironical fate of the King of Thebes.

The idea of fate was the central belief in Greek philosophy. In which one’s life is pre-determined by the gods and no matter how hard one tries to avoid it, it cannot be evaded. This theme is vividly shown in Sophocles’ Oedipus the King. Tiresias, the blind soothsayer had told a prophecy told Jocasta, Oedipus’ mother, and wife that her son would kill his father.

“To a strange land he soon shall grope his way. And of the children, inmates of his home, He shall be proved the brother and the sire, Of her who bare him son and husband both, Co-partner, and assassin of his sire. Go in and ponder this, and if thou find That I have missed the mark, henceforth declare I have no wit nor skill in prophecy” (Oedipus).

The play was written with two stories, one was what had already happened in the past, and the one was the present time. Sophocles uses the current time to disclose what had happened in the past. In the present time, Oedipus is seen as the wise man. His astonishment of killing Sphinx had made him the King of Thebes. Oedipus’ willingness to find out the truth who had killed his father, Laius, has only carried him to realizing that he had fulfilled the prophecy of killing his own father.

Oedipus can be considered a man who went through all tragedies. As an audience, I could only feel pity for Oedipus in this tragedy play. Pity because of his limit of free will to avoid his fate that was pre-determined by the gods.

I thought the staged reading had done a good job with the acting portion. Although it was a staged reading, the actors and actresses were still able to put emotion and physical into the play which gave a little more sense to the audience of how it may be portrayed in the actual play. The unfortunate part is that because the actors and actresses focused on their readings, there were not much eye contacts between the actors.