The Oedipus Project is an innovative digital initiative by Theater of War Productions that will present acclaimed actors performing scenes from Sophocles’ Oedipus the King as a catalyst for powerful, healing online conversations about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic upon diverse communities throughout the world. Sophocles’ ancient play, written and performed in 429 BC during the time of a plague that killed one-third of the Athenian population, is a timeless story of arrogant leadership, ignored prophecy, and a pestilence that ravages the city of Thebes. At the time the play was first performed, the audience would have been reeling in the wake of a pestilence and its economic, political, and social aftermath. Seen through this lens Oedipus the King appears to have been a powerful public health tool for helping Athenians communalize the trauma of the plague, through a story that is as relevant now as it was in its own time.
Featuring performances by Frances McDormand, Oscar Isaac, Jeffrey Wright, John Turturro, Frankie Faison, David Strathairn, Glenn Davis, Marjolaine Goldsmith and Public Advocate Jumaane Williams.
TRANSLATED, DIRECTED and FACILITATED BY BRYAN DOERRIES
Theater of War Productions and the Stavros Niarchos Foundation are proud to celebrate their longstanding, ten-year partnership with this special performance of The Oedipus Project for a large, international audience through the Summer Nostos Festival.
Co-presented by the Summer Nostos Festival by Stavros Niarchos Foundation, Theater of War Productions. The Brooklyn Public Library, New York City Office of The Public Advocate and the Weissman Family Foundation.