Oedipus El Rey by Luis Alfaro (review)

Hernandez did not offer the generic palace steps of Western antiquity, but a brightly colored world that contrasted the religious ecstasy of the Virgin Mary and Mesoamerican iconography with the confined world of the prison industry. The Shiva is only seven rows deep, so we could also see Monge’s de...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inTheatre Journal Vol. 70; no. 4; pp. 561 - 563
Main Author Coulter, Todd James
Format Journal Article Book Review
LanguageEnglish
Published Baltimore Johns Hopkins University Press 01.12.2018
Subjects
Actors
Alfaro, Luis
Antiquity
Collaboration
Dramaturgy
Prisoners
Prisons
Theater
Los Angeles California
New York
United States > US
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:Hernandez did not offer the generic palace steps of Western antiquity, but a brightly colored world that contrasted the religious ecstasy of the Virgin Mary and Mesoamerican iconography with the confined world of the prison industry. The Shiva is only seven rows deep, so we could also see Monge’s devastatingly subtle acting as he pleaded with his son to find a different way while a stream of tears fell from behind his dark glasses—a father mourning his son’s fate in a rigged system. From the opening call and response in which the Coro as inmates rightfully railed against the stories told about them to the final moments of the play, Alfaro’s dramaturgy and Yew’s production consistently challenged us to confront the stories we know and to end the ones that harm us, especially those that work to keep specific populations chained to a fate others have written for them.
ISSN:0192-2882
1086-332X
1086-332X
DOI:10.1353/tj.2018.0112