It's election night. The polls predict a landslide victory. Everything is about to change.
Icke's visionary revival was nothing short of a sensation. Oedipus became an instant phenomenon and the highest-grossing limited-run production in Wyndham's history. It didn't just bring Greek tragedy back to the West End—it redefined it. This Oedipus played like a political thriller, gripping audiences in breathless suspense until its final, devastating moment.
Reid, Strong and Manville are transfixing as awful revelation after revelation comes to light. Strong’s nice guy gives way to brutishness and boiling blood, and Manville’s heretofore stalwart Jocasta crushingly crumples when the grotesque truth is finally revealed.
Like Teiresias, Merope understands that Oedipus’ world is about to implode — though Ickes smartly insures that no one character has the full picture of the family history until the elements leak out bit by bit. By the time that countdown clock hits zero, and the penny drops for both Oedipus and Jocasta, there is no turning back. The final scenes, as Strong and Manville wrestle with the full ramifications of their unwitting actions, unspool with a furious inevitability that is difficult to watch and impossible to look away. Ickes and his cast have achieved something truly remarkable, producing a classic that doesn’t feel like a revival at all. Oedipus may be the best play of the decade, and also the most contemporary.
| West End |
West End |
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| 2025 | West End |
West End |
| 2025 | Broadway |
Broadway |
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