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Oedipus: A Context Part 1 The brainchild of Martin, Oedipus: A Context is essentially an improvised version of the classic Sophocles tragedy, Oedipus Rex, and it was the first project on which the founders of CherryPie Productions would collaborate. Staged over three nights in St. Pats college from March 1st to March 3rd 1999, it would bring together Martin, Neil, Ailish and Stephen as well as introduing Neysa Dunne (who played Girl 2 in Admonition), Melanie Piel (Mother in Admontion), Darren Kelly (Father), and Ann Marie Byrne (Woman in Park in Admonition and Jo in Cassandra) into the fold. The play was described by Martin in the programme notes as 'a very different Oedipus to any you may have seen before', and this was to prove wholly correct. Darren Kelly's Creon was the embodiment of camp, Neil's Oedipus was a Tony Blair imitation, the Corinthian messanger is more worried about football results than anything else, Apollo turns up played by a French speaking woman, Martin French dances badly, FatBoy Slim provides the soundtrack, Sophocles turned in his grave and Baz Lurhman was on the phone. Working with a tiny budget, some minor support from the English Society (headed by Stephen) and the Drama Society (headed by Ailish), a minimalist set, few lighting effects, and a small cast and crew, the staging of the play mirrored the personal nature of its conception, with the audience being seated on stage, and full interaction between a crazed Oedipus and his 'subjects' being the order of the day. With professional acting warm ups before each performance and with no script, the play proved to have more and more energy as it moved on, culminating in the incredible final scene between Apollo and Oedipus on the last night. Although staying very close to the original plot, Oedipus: A Context was essentially unique for its deliverence, for its innovations, for its originality and for its fine performances. Idea Genesis/ Rehearsals: Martin, who had to stage a play as part of his MA in Theatre Studies, which he was doing in Pat's at the time, began the run of Oedipus: A Context with numerous ideas, many of which never fully matured (either through insoluble problems; financial dificulties; casting difficulties or the realisation that there were simply better alternatives). It was in late 1998 that Martin first hit upon the idea of staging a play with something a little different, some kind of wholly unpredictable and unexpected twist. At first, he didn't even know what text he wanted to stage, feeling only that an older play, as opposed to a contemporary one, was the way to go. He was briefly tempted to do Shakespeare but withdrew from the idea precisely because it would be expected. He next hit upon the Greek dramatists, comcentrating specificially upon the primary men in their field, Sophocles and Aeschylus (what about poor Euripides?). Martin realised that if the play was to be from Aeschylus it would have to be Orestia, if Sophocles then it would have to be Oedipus Rex. He had always been a fan of Sophocles in general and this play in particular, so in the end Sophocles got the nod. As one of his key goals, Martin was determined to see if the play would adapt to modern times, and in considering how to accomplish this, he hit upon Comedia D'ell Arte and the theory of improvisation. Knowing that if one was to work effectively, there was a need for the other, the idea of an improvised Oedipus Rex was soon reached, an improvisation using guidelines along the way. The trouble was going to be finding a cast who could pull it off. Martin assembled a very small cast over a three week period, with some people he approached unable to commit themselves to the project and others afraid to do so. With his skeleton cast together, the team set about rehearsing the play, with Martin keeping a watchful eye on who to cast as who. This period lasted three weeks and was comprised of three stages. Firstly, the cast would briefly warm up, then sit down and discuss one scene. Next, people were paired up one by one, while the rest sat by and watched the pair trying to do the seclected scene together. Martin tended to cast against who he felt was best for each role in these pairing sessions. This would be followed by a further discussion, where new insights would be realised. By the end of October 1998, Martin had cast everybody of importance in the play with the exception of the Corinthian messanger. As such, he planned to play that role himself. At that point, the cast was the exact same one that would ultimately perform the play, with the exception of Rainer Lange from Germany, who was playing Creon. Final plans began in December, but early in the month, Rainer had to return unexpectedly to Germany. The holidays came upon the team, then the Christmas exams. The two months of December and January saw little work, with the exception of thr casting of Darren Kelly as Creon and John Clarke as the messanger. In February 1999, the team hardened to their task, collectively rooting out as many problems as they could identify. They also managed to create some new ones, but they eventually sorted them out too. By the end of the month, they were ready. The time had come. on to Oedipus page 2 back to products links page back to home |
