Bet you didn't know Oedipus had such quality inkwork

I just got back from the world premiere of Oedipus el Rey at Magic Theatre.

I'm going to try to make this brief because I have a lot to do and I have to be at work in 8 hours. For that reason this will be passionate and to the point. I was going to take the night off. I have so many things going on right now I thought I'd just go to the theater for pleasure—no notebook, no hidden audio recorder, no studying the program beforehand.

But the play I saw tonight now has control of me. If I want to get to the rest of my work I'm going to have to write about it. In a way this isn't fair, because I went to an amazing new reading series this past Sunday and have already loaded the videos but still haven't done a writeup. And the quality of some of the readings I saw Sunday left me so flabbergasted that I had to use that word. Despite that, I feel compelled to sneak this quick review in. Let me start by just saying you should go see this play immediately. It runs until February 28 and I am serious. I've seen plays on every level, from grade school tantrum fiascos to Kneehigh Theater Company, but this may have been my best experience.

Oedipus el Rey at once modernizes the Greeks without compromise and reinterprets modern life through the lens of their culture. The chorus functions more intelligiently than any I've seen, that's for certain: it consists of 4 prisonmates in the fitness yard, standing around the same way 4 guys might loiter on your streetcorner, in their neighborhood: swapping the bull and dis-missing status quo with sneers and mockery. Tough guys who still have heart. "Who is this guy we should listen to his story? Who is this man Oedipus?" The chorus shares one basic voice through the four heads, each one taking a turn. "Who wants to be king." "Who wants more power than god." "Who doesn't listen." "Who should know better but doesn't care." (Since I wasn't planning on doing a write-up, these are approximations ... but you get the idea.)

Magic Theatre houses maybe 150 at most. There was full nudity—male and female—there was a whole scene of dancing a la traditional Mexican marriage fiestas, five whole minutes of the entire cast dancing in circles and yelping for fun, even grabbing several ladies from the front rows and passing them around for authenticity's sake. The lighting was so tasteful I wanted to clap when it dimmed, brightened, or accentuated the bare but perceptible traces of smoke machine atmosphere. The set was simply a wooden panel the size of a large dance floor, with several minimal props that were easy to dis- and assemble. The music and sound was immaculate, the acting powerful, and the theme timeless.

Am I jumbling vagueries? The fact is, reenacting a classic Greek play is not easy. It's easy to mess up too many things, and the consequences can be enormous. Loretta Greco, who directed Luis Alfaro's daring reimagination (and is also in her second year as the Magic Artistic Director), did a fairytale job. In the reception afterward, lead actor Joshua Torrez walked by David Wiegand and me, or tried to. We stopped him because we were as overwhelmed as he must have been. Or almost. I think everyone was. People had that 'it's still sinking in and I'm really liking it' look on their faces, even refraining from refreshments and just kind of looking at one another. We congratulated Mr. Torrez, of course (yes, back to him). We had just met Loretta and I think David and I both fell in love with her. As Torrez said: "She was amazing to work with. She just has this glow to her and she shares it."

This was my first experience with Magic Theatre. It was supposed to be a night off. Sometimes, when your guard's down, that's when you really get hit hard. Don't forget to love the blows!

There's some amazing events coming up but we can't stop, won't stop. Better buckle up yawl!