Oedipus Tyrannus by Sophocles
Translated by Peter Meineck & Paul Woodruff
March 22-24 & 27-31, 2007

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	One Act Play Festival

UVA Drama Dept. Presents Eye-Popping Tragedy, Oedipus Tyrannus
A king promises to save his people from a plague; a prophecy is fulfilled; a man faces his past and confronts his destiny.   This March the U.Va. Drama Department presents the father of all tragedies, Sophocles’ Oedipus Tyrannus, in a new translation by Peter Meineck & Paul Woodruff.  Watch the horrifying story unfold March 22-24 and 27-31 at 8 p.m. in the Helms Theatre.

Thebes is cursed with a devastating plague, and the only cure is to sacrifice the murderer of the old king.  Oedipus, the new king revered for his cleverness, takes it upon himself to seek out the murderer, but the further he progresses in his investigation, the closer he comes to uncovering the horrors of his own past.  Sophocles’ play, perhaps the best-known of the Greek tragedies, still strikes a chord with audiences today, delving into the timeless conflict of a human being struggling against destiny.

Director Betsy Tucker notes that “Greek tragedies were not called tragedies; they were called choruses.”  Keeping that in mind, Tucker will center the play around the Chorus, using choral odes to layer and texture the story.  Tucker, who most recently directed the U.Va. Drama Department’s productions of Luminosity and Cloud 9, approaches this production as “a kind of ritual through which the Chorus leads the audience.”   She sees the Chorus as “performing in collective response to the action of the play.”

Tickets for Oedipus Tyrannus are $14 for adults, $12 for seniors and $8 for students; full-time U.Va. students can use their ART$ Dollars to purchase tickets.  For more information visit the Drama Department website at www.virginia.edu/drama, or call the Drama Department Box Office at 434-924-3376.   The box office is open from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. 

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