Oedipus, Old Vic Review 3*
Hofesh Shechter’s disquieting dances impart heft to a strangely muted adaptation of Oedipus Rex at The Old Vic
The decision to bring choreographer Hofesh Shechter’s frenzied dances into an adaptation of the tragedy of Oedipus was inspired. Part Greek chorus, part the enraged, rebelling people of drought-ravaged Thebes, Shechter’s 10 dancers create the sense of inexorable doom so sadly lacking in other parts of The Old Vic’s take on Sophocles’s play.
The ancient Greeks’ perennial conflict between capricious gods and the humans they toy with and the futile struggle against all-powerful Fate form the very core of Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex.
It’s the story of the downfall of one man, punished for his hubris, yes, yet unable to avoid the fate he was cursed with from birth – he will kill his father and marry his mother.
The opening sequence where the ten dancers surge onto a crepuscular stage, feet rhythmically pounding the ground, pleading arms raised to heaven, Shechter’s own very loud, percussive music coursing through their bodies, creates an awesome, beyond time climate.
Dancers from the Hofesh Shechter Company in Oedipus at The Old Vic (2025). Photo by Manuel Harlan
That powerful sense of myth is disappointingly dispelled as soon as the main characters step onto Rae Smith’s minimalist set, Oedipus in a greyish two piece suit, Jocasta a little more glamorous in a red pleated dress and pashmina. Their daughters wear frilly ankle socks under their mary janes.
Ella Hickson’s demotic dialogue, all jargon and anachronisms – Oedipus describes himself as “a teenager” at the time he left Corinth, a couple of millennia before the very notion was invented – often jars and divests the action of its mythical dimension, bringing it down to the level of a bourgeois family drama.
It doesn’t help that Remi Malek on his UK stage debut is woefully miscast as Oedipus. Justly praised for his Freddie Mercury in the biopic of the Queen frontman, and a very credible James Bond villain in No Time to Die, here Malek lacks the physical presence and compelling delivery to embody a larger than life Greek hero, a man who reached undreamt of heights before being brought down by hubris.
Malek looks like a little boy lost, and the lack of chemistry between his Oedipus and Indira Varma’s homely Jocasta, also contributes to the flatness of the first half.
It’s not until the appearance of the blind seer Tiresias, imposingly played by Cecilia Noble, that words spat out in anger and scorn first send a shiver down your spine.
Cecilia Noble (Tiresias) in Oedipus at The Old Vic (2025). Photo by Manuel Harlan
From then on the tragedy gains momentum and becomes more gripping, but still much of the heavy lifting is done by superb lighting design by the much garlanded Tom Visser, a veteran of international ballet stages, together with Shechter’s dance interludes.
Co-directed by Old Vic supremo Matthew Warchus and Hofesh Shechter, this production opts to tone down the terror leading to catharsis that characterises Greek tragedy in an effort to bring it closer to modern day audiences. In doing so, it deprives the audience of much-needed catharsis without adding to the understanding of what is beyond rational understanding: the whims of the gods and the overhelming power of Fate.
© Teresa Guerreiro
(Banner Image credit: Rami Malek (Oedipus), Indira Varma (Jocasta) and dancers from the Hofesh Shechter Company in Oedipus at The Old Vic (2025). Photo by Manuel Harlan)
Oedipus is at The Old Vic 21 Jan – 29 Mar 2005. Full info and tickets here