Oedipus - National Theatre (Olivier)
Preview by Lizzie Guilfoyle
JONATHAN Kent will direct Ralph Fiennes in the title role of Frank McGuinness’ new version of Sophocles’ tragedy Oedipus, which opens in the Olivier Theatre on October 15, 2008 (previews from October 8).
The people of Thebes look to Oedipus to lift a terrible curse from them and their city. He consults the oracle and learns that he must root out the late king’s murderer. But his relentless interrogation of one man after another leads inexorably, and in the space of a single day, to his own savage conclusion.
Fiennes and Kent have previously worked together on Faith Healer (Gate Theatre, Dublin and Broadway); Hamlet (Hackney Empire and Broadway); Ivanov (Almeida Theatre); and Richard II and Coriolanus (Almeida at Gainsborough Studios, New York and Tokyo).
His recent theatre credits include God of Carnage (Gielgud Theatre), Julius Caesar (Barbican), and Brand (RSC). He was last seen at the National Theatre in The Talking Cure. Fiennes is also well known for his extensive screen work which includes The Duchess, The Constant Gardener, The English Patient, Quiz Show and Schindler’s List.
The cast of Oedipus also includes Alan Howard (as Teiresias), Clare Higgins (as Jocasta), Patrick Brennan, Sam Cox, Steven Page, Christopher Saul, David Shaw-Parker and Malcolm Storry.
Higgins has won three Olivier Awards – for Sweet Bird of Youth, Vincent in Brixton and Hecuba. Her other stage credits include Death of a Salesman, The Night of the Iguana, the Donmar’s 2006 revival of Phaedra and, most recently, Major Barbara at the National Theatre where she will also be appearing in this season’s Landscape and A Slight Ache.
Kent’s most recent production for the National was The False Servant. As joint artistic director of the Almeida Theatre for over ten years, his productions included Medea (also West End and Broadway); The Tempest (Almeida at Gainsborough Studios); Phèdre, Britannicus and Plenty (Almeida at the Albery Theatre); and Lulu, Platonov and King Lear (Almeida at King’s Cross).
He has also directed three productions – The Sea, The Country Wife and Marguerite – for the newly created Theatre Royal Haymarket Company.
Oedipus is designed by Paul Brown, with lighting by Neil Austin, music by Jonathan Dove, movement by Denni Sayers and sound by Paul Groothuis. It is the second of three annual productions sponsored by Shell, the first being Much Ado About Nothing.
NB: The National Theatre will be open on Sundays throughout the autumn/winter season, beginning on September 21, 2008. Sunday matinees (at 3pm) in the Olivier and Lyttelton Theatres will include Oedipus.