Oedipus Retold

Two plays by Jeremy Kingston

“Why do we do it? Why do we make these journeys to
that smoking crack in the earth at Delphi?
We watch for birds flying this or that way,
Cringe at thunder-claps.
The folly of us all!.”

Oedipus Retold is a double-bill of Oedipus the King, an imaginative retelling by Jeremy Kingston of Sophocles' Oedipus Tyrannos, performed alongside Jeremy's original work, Oedipus at the Crossroads.

The story of Oedipus the King is widely celebrated and Kingston's interpretation is a witty, alternative and thought-provoking retelling that revisits questions of fates, power and perception.

Oedipus at the Crossroads is a bitingly comic exploration of an alternative narrative; what would have happened if Oedipus had met his father and instead of killing him had struck up a conversation? And how on earth was Oedipus persuaded to kill his father and marry his mother within a few days?

Jeremy Kingston’s previous plays include Making Dickie Happy (Tristan Bates Theatre), No Concern of Mine (Westminster Theatre), Signs of the Times (Vaudeville Theatre) and Oedipus at the Crossroads (King's Head Theatre). Other writing includes two collections of poems, a novel, two children's books and scripts for Granada TV. He has been theatre critic for both Punch and The Times.

"A bristling, intelligent and funny play" - The Guardian
"A highly diverting diptych" - The Independent