Category Archives: West End

Robert Icke’s Oedipus

Broadway, Drama, West End November 14, 2025 Leave a comment

Restrict your liquids and buckle up for the ride.  Robert Icke’s multiple Olivier Award Winning Oedipus has landed on Broadway.  The writer/director phenom transforms the 2500 year old Greek myth to tell the story of Oedipus, a warm and ambitious politician on an election night that should be full of celebration.  Though he is an immigrant whose marriage to the widow of former ruler, Laius, has prompted gossip, his messages of acceptance and affordability have resonated with the voting public.  A landslide victory is all but assured.  Yet his promises to release his birth certificate and to investigate Laius’s death have stirred concerns among those closest to him.  Oedipus’s own uneasiness begins to rise when a futurist cult member, Teiresias, is admitted to campaign headquarters and utters a series of dire warnings.  To ensure the now-set ominous mood remains unbroken, the two-hour political thrill ride has a strict no late seating, no re-admittance policy.

Mark Strong and Lesley Manville in Oedipus; photo by Julieta Cervantes.

On stage for the majority of the running time, Mark Strong manifests a charismatic Oedipus, whose worthy purposefulness has a pronounced shadow side.  His chemistry with the radiant Lesley Manville as Jocasta makes their critical relationship positively pop off the stage.  Jordan Scowen, James Wilbraham and particularly Olivia Reis are terrific as their flawed offspring Eteocles, Polyneices, and Antigone.  (No Ismene exists in this edition.)  Joining the production for the US run is the steady John Carroll Lynch as Creon, Oedipus’s affable campaign manager and brother-in-law. Bhasker Patel brings stateliness to the faithful Corin.  Though his appearance is short, Samuel Brewer makes an affectively disturbing Teiresias.  While it is truth that Merope is supposed to be stressed and guilt-ridden, the usually stellar Anne Reid could use a bit of an energy boost to reach the cheap seats.

As an extension of the election night conceit, the lease is up on Oedipus’s campaign quarters.  This allows for the poetic disassembly of Hildegard Bechtler’s industrial modern set, starting with draining the color out of the space.  To illustrate the initially relaxed state of the characters, costume designer Wojciech Dziedzic has primarily adorned the family members in athleisurewear, with the formal attire set out for the approaching victory.  Tal Yarden’s videos add realism and reminders.  The ticking clock and mood music incorporated in Tom Gibbons’ sound design is aural gilding of the tension lily.  

For those unfamiliar with Studio 54 (254 West 54th Street), there are a few features to keep in mind.  The acoustics are particularly good throughout the space.  Though they get you closest to the action, there is almost no rake in the first dozen rows of the orchestra.  The front mezzanine, with the previous chair back only reaching to ones knees is a strategic alternative. But the steepness of the stairs left some white knuckling the handrail.  

Apologies to Liam Neeson, but it really takes a particular set of skills to tell a story with an ending so infamous it has its own complex and still keep an audience on the edge of their seats.  By tethering the tragedy of Oedipus so beautifully to today, Icke infuses what could be a cold classroom flashback with deep humanity and chilling emotion.  Tickets are being sold for performances through February 8, 2026.  Visit Oedipustheplay.com for details and to purchase tickets.

Elaine Stritch At Liberty – On Demand

On Demand, West End February 28, 2023 Leave a comment

Elaine Stritch At Liberty is available to stream just in time for Women’s History Month.  A true dame in all the best connotations of that word, Stritch adds song-and-dance sparkle to deeply personal storytelling in her one-woman show.  This performance was captured at London’s Old Vic, where it played after development at New York’s Public Theater and a Tony-winning run on Broadway.  It received two Emmys when it ran in prime time nearly 20 years ago and is a gift to her fans and anyone else with a love of show business.

Elaine Stritch at Liberty was recorded at The Old Vic in London

The intro is so stuffed with detail, it’s hard to believe there’s more to tell.  Costumed in a man’s dress shirt, dark tights, and dance shoes selected by designer Paul Tazewell, Ms. Stritch shares life stories from her sheltered Catholic upbringing in Michigan through her early acting classes in New York to her professional experiences on stage and in film and television.  New Yorker Magazine staff writer and theater critic John Lahr developed the script under Stritch’s watchful eye.  (The credits describe their collaboration as “Constructed by” and “Reconstructed by” respectively.)   Monologues are arranged to provide a constant shift in mood.  There’s a farcical account of a time she had a significant role in an out of town production concurrent with serving as understudy to the great Ethel Merman on the Great White Way.  But she is also brutally honest about her history with alcohol and less-than-wise choices of lovers.  Over her 50 years in the industry, she had brushes with many stars including Marlon Brando, Judy Garland, and Rock Hudson.  Though she is a clever mimic, many she mentions are not as well known to today’s audiences and those not immersed in theatrical lore might need to keep their IBDB page open.

Singing in more of a patter style, Stritch could still strut her stuff well into her 70s.  Jonathan Tunick mixes solo piano numbers reminiscent of Stritch’s sessions at the famed Carlyle Room with full orchestral pieces designed to bring down the house.  The expected songs from Ladies Who Lunch to Zip are all here, along with ones that played a role in her development into an unusual leading lady.  Some of the lyrics would not make the cut today and should be appreciated in context. 

Seasoned vet George C. Wolfe directed for the stage and gives life to the work even when Stritch is sitting still in a chair against a brick wall.  In an unusual agreement, five people have screen directing credit (documentary filmmaker Rick McKay along with Nick Doob, Chris Hegedus, D.A. Pennebaker, and Andy Picheta).  Certainly the visuals captured by a full complement of 11 cameras are varied given the intimate setting.  The differentiation of surroundings is further defined by the lighting design of Jules Fisher and Peggy Eisenhauer. 

At nearly 2 ½ hours long, Elaine Stritch At Liberty is a lot to take in, but so was the lady herself.  By turns funny, bitter, and vulnerable, she never wavers in her devotion to the path she chose.  The On Demand special is available beginning March 1, 2023 on BroadwayHD (https://www.broadwayhd.com/).