King Oedipus is the perfect tragedy. In the wake of many before him, Robert Icke – one of the British theater’s most explosive talents – directs his own contemporary, free adaptation. Oedipus premieres on Sunday 8 April at the Stadsschouwburg Amsterdam. The performance will be subtitled in English on 12 April, 8, 10 and 17 May.
Sophocles’s most famous tragedy is the first story about crime and punishment. But just how guilty is Oedipus? Robert Icke: ‘Since the beginning, both audience and artists have been fascinated by Oedipus: the story of a man who, in his success, exceeded limits, only to find out that he had crossed the most fundamental of boundaries in doing so. Everyone makes mistakes. Everyone deviates from the plan. But what do we do when our mistakes have been made before? What if our mistakes are the plan? What if those mistakes can no longer be undone? What is our fate? How can we see through ourselves enough to stop before it is too late? How can we ever know ourselves well enough?’
Oedipus’s quest is full of surprising twists. This turns the story into a chilling thriller. Oedipus is much more than the story of a man who has looked but not seen. The age-old attraction will always be how recognizable his fate is: the vulnerability of existence. And the fact that it is nearly impossible to control our lives and fortune.
