Sophocles ‘s Oedipus Rex comes to Mehregan Hall

" Oedipus Rex " by Sophocles, translated by  the late Shahrokh Maskoob, directed by Afshin Ghasemi and produced by Saman Alizadeh, will be performed on Saturday, June 29, at 7 pm at the Mehregan Theater.

 

Oedipus Rex, also known by its Greek title, Oedipus Tyrannus, or Oedipus the King, is an Athenian tragedy by Sophocles that was first performed around 429 BC. Originally, to the ancient Greeks, the title was simply Oedipus, as it is referred to by Aristotle in the Poetics.

 

Oedipus, King of Thebes, sends his brother-in-law, Creon, to ask advice of the oracle at Delphi, concerning a plague ravaging Thebes. Creon returns to report that the plague is the result of religious pollution, since the murderer of their former king, Laius, has never been caught. Oedipus vows to find the murderer and curses him for causing the plague.

 

Oedipus summons the blind prophet Tiresias for help. When Tiresias arrives he claims to know the answers to Oedipus's questions, but refuses to speak, instead telling him to abandon his search. Oedipus is enraged by Tiresias' refusal, and accuses him of complicity in Laius' murder. Outraged, Tiresias tells the king that Oedipus himself is the murderer ("You yourself are the criminal you seek"). Oedipus cannot see how this could be, and concludes that the prophet must have been paid off by Creon in an attempt to undermine him. The two argue vehemently, as Oedipus mocks Tiresias' lack of sight, and Tiresias retorts that Oedipus himself is blind. Eventually Tiresias leaves, muttering darkly that when the murderer is discovered he shall be a native citizen of Thebes, brother and father to his own children, and son and husband to his own mother.

 

The credit:

The performers: (respectively) Saman Alizadeh, Afshin Lotfi, Ali Shahbazi, Mahrokh Salari, Golnaz Eidi, Zahra Kalantar, Mahya Bustanchi, Leila Dehghan, Sara Zamzam, Reza Kennedy,

Light and Music: Maryam Shahraeini, Poster Designer: Sonia Hadi Gol, Image Design Studio, Media Consultant: Mohammad Hossein Abdollahi

 

Those who are interested can buy tickets for the show from the Tiwal website.