1
Sep/20

THEATER OF WAR: THE OEDIPUS PROJECT UK

1
Sep/20

Who: Kathryn Hunter, Damian Lewis, Clarke Peters, Lesley Sharp, Jason Isaacs, Nyasha Hatendi, Brian F. O’Byrne, Nick Holder, Bryan Doerries
What: Live Zoom theatrical production and discussion from Theater of War
Where: Zoom link sent with advance registration
When: Thursday, September 3, free with RSVP, 2:00
Why: One of the best Zoom presentations of the pandemic has been Theater of War’s The Oedipus Project, in which Frances McDormand, John Turturro, Oscar Isaac, Jeffrey Wright, Frankie Faison, David Strathairn, Glenn Davis, Marjolaine Goldsmith, and Jumaane Williams gave a live, powerful dramatic reading of scenes from Sophocles’s fifth-century BCE classic, Oedipus the King, from wherever they were sheltering in place. (Isaac delivered an unforgettable finale as the tortured king.) The event was introduced by Theater of War cofounder and adapter/director Bryan Doerries, who also led a postshow discussion relating the play to the Covid-19 crisis.

The organization now heads virtually across the pond for an all-star UK edition of The Oedipus Project, featuring Kathryn Hunter, Damian Lewis, Clarke Peters, Lesley Sharp, Jason Isaacs, Nyasha Hatendi, Brian F. O’Byrne, and Nick Holder. The production will take place September 3 at 2:00 and will also conclude with a discussion facilitated by Doerries with four community panelists, focusing on the subjects of aging, dementia, elder care, and family dynamics, examining the play — which Shakespeare wrote, perhaps while self-isolating, during the 1606 plague, when theaters had shut down — in context with the current pandemic.