01 Dec TIO NYC: Grand Finale, “Oedipus”! GO!
A modern reimagining of the classic Sophocles tragedy”Oedipus” is brilliantly adapted by Robert Icke as a political thriller set on an election night.
The production stars Mark Strong as Oedipus and Lesley Manville as Jocasta in powerful, provocative performances. Up at Studio 54 through February 8, 2026.
This postmodern “Oedipus” is as powerful, disturbing, and mesmerizing as today’s headlines with the same kind of Ripley’s believe-it-or-not vibe. No big surprise given a leitmotif of the original Oedipus is murder most foul and incest.
GO!
Sophocles wrote “Oedipus,” a moral/philosophical tragedy, around the time the plague struck Athens during the Peloponnesian War, 430–429 BCE. (The event is referenced in the play’s opening.) In the telling, a man spends his life trying to avoid a terrible prophecy, but ends up fulfilling it precisely through his attempts to escape fate, viewed as cosmic, divine, inevitable.
Set in ancient Thebes, the language of the original tragedy was rendered in poetic, formal Greek verse. Its chorus was comprised of masked singers/narrators. Its aesthetic was ritualistic and mystical. The two heroes – or anti-heroes – Oedipus and Jocasta – were depicted respectively as an ill-fated human seeking truth and an archetypal tragic queen.
In contrast, the Icke version is set in a contemporary political environment. Its language is modern, fast and realistic. Its “chorus” amounts to media screens, polling data, and a press room. The aesthetic? Cinematic, minimalist, and high-tech.
In this psychological and thriller-style tragedy, Oedipus morphs into a charismatic political leader whose search for the truth proves devastating; Jocasta is portrayed as a flesh-and-blood woman with great psychological depth and passion.
Summing up the Broadway “Oedipus” is faithful to the outlines of the ancient plot, but reframes the story to ask – and answer – a challenging question: What does fate look like in our time?
What we learn is this phoenix of the story has little to do with meddling gods. It is contemporary systems — media cycles, politics, public expectations, institutions, social media — that trap leaders like Oedipus in narratives they simply cannot escape – even if they create those narratives themselves.
Bottom line: Icke’s postmodern version of Sophocles’ ancient tragedy feels frighteningly like now – and is laureled to the hilt:
“…pulse-pounding,” “gripping,” and “a rare and magnificent feat of adaptation,” said The New York Post, which went on to describe Strong’s Oedipus as both “regal and breakably real,” and Manville’s Jocasta as “towering,” haunted, and painfully human.” Their chemistry — despite the taboo nature of their relationship — is central to the play’s gut-wrenching impact – all the more so because Icke’s modern framing of a very old story draws strong, unmissable parallels to contemporary politics and public scandals.
In other words “Oedipus” 2.0 chillingly resonant.
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