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The Arab Oedipus: Four Plays
Four plays based on the Oedipus legend by four leading dramatists of the Arab World.
- GenresDrama
450 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 2006
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About the author
Marvin A. Carlson
64 books7 followersPh.D.in Drama and Theatre, Cornell University. Sidney E. Cohn Distinguished Professor of Theatre, Comparative Literature and Middle Eastern Studies.
Research and teaching interests include dramatic theory and Western European theatre history and dramatic literature, especially of the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries. He has been awarded the ATHE Career Achievement Award, the George Jean Nathan Prize, the Bernard Hewitt prize, the George Freedley Award, and a Guggenheim Fellowship. He has been a Walker-Ames Professor at the University of Washington, a Fellow of the Institute for Advanced Studies at Indiana University, a Visiting Professor at Freie Universität Berlin, and a Fellow of the American Theatre. In 2005 he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Athens. His best-known book, Theories of the Theatre (Cornell University Press, 1993), has been translated into seven languages. His 2001 book, The Haunted Stage won the Calloway Prize.
His newest book, Speaking in Tongues, was published by the University of Michigan Press in 2006.
Research and teaching interests include dramatic theory and Western European theatre history and dramatic literature, especially of the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries. He has been awarded the ATHE Career Achievement Award, the George Jean Nathan Prize, the Bernard Hewitt prize, the George Freedley Award, and a Guggenheim Fellowship. He has been a Walker-Ames Professor at the University of Washington, a Fellow of the Institute for Advanced Studies at Indiana University, a Visiting Professor at Freie Universität Berlin, and a Fellow of the American Theatre. In 2005 he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Athens. His best-known book, Theories of the Theatre (Cornell University Press, 1993), has been translated into seven languages. His 2001 book, The Haunted Stage won the Calloway Prize.
His newest book, Speaking in Tongues, was published by the University of Michigan Press in 2006.
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February 21, 2021King Oedipus, by Tawfiq al-Hakim: In plot terms, this follows pretty close to Sophocles' Oedipus the King, but there are several major differences. For one, the conception of government here is very different because Tiresias is a scheming political puppetmaster who intended to undo the dynasty of Laius and instead place someone of his own choosing on the throne. We learn that Tiresias made up the story about the sphinx, which was actually just a regular lion, so that he could install the stranger Oedipus on the throne and establish power over the new king by potentially revealing the truth. The irony, of course, is that when it is revealed that Oedipus actually is Jocasta and Laius' son, Tiresias' political manipulations were thwarted. A second change is that the oracle Creon brings back directly names Oedipus as the killer. Despite some references to oracles being obscure, the message Creon gives is pretty unambiguous in this version. However, when Creon first gives the message, Oedipus decides that it's a coup attempt by Creon and the Priest, so he puts them both on trial, which doesn't happen in Sophocles, but is actually an interesting gesture because in ancient Athens, trials were conducted publicly and the jury of citizens was one of the most important functions of citizenship.
https://youtu.be/q4Idk9LAYZA
The Tragedy of Oedipus, by Ali Ahmad Bakathir: Like al-Hakim, Bakathir is really interested in the theme of a good leader led astray by bad advisers, but Bakathir's play focused much more on a religious issue. On the one hand is Lucasius, the Temple High priest who has accumulated a lot of money, wealth, and property for the temple, and on the other hand is Tiresias, who was kicked out of the Temple and banished from Thebes. When plague and famine hit Thebes, Tiresias manages to get into the palace to see Oedipus, whom he convinces to accept what Oedipus already knows in his heart/unconscious mind--namely, that he killed Laius, his father, and married Jocasta, his mother. And while Tiresias brings Oedipus to repent of his sins, he also exposes Lucasius for having engineered all of these events through a series of false oracles meant to guide Oedipus to the throne. This changes the nature of Oedipus' antagonism to Lucasius. Before Oedipus had blamed him for hoarding money that should be used to help combat the famine, but now Oedipus also blames the priest for setting these traps for himself and his family. The third act of the play is essentially a showdown between Lucasius on the one hand and Oedipus and Tiresias on the other, and Tiresias is able to prove Lucasius' machinations step by step from before Oedipus' birth, through his exposure by Laius, through the revelation of who his parents were, through tempting him to return to Thebes, through a fake Sphinx (which was actually a priest in a costume murdering people). The people are persuaded, and they call for Lucasius' banishment. Oedipus seeks his own banishment as penance for his sins, but the people ask him to remain as king because of his wisdom and goodness. He initially accepts, but then decides in the short final scene that he must leave to wander, exiled from Thebes, with only Antigone, who insists on going with him.
https://youtu.be/yr_rfHoMqoY
The Comedy of Oedipus, by Ali Salim: Salim's adaptation of Oedipus is very focused on the question of democracy and leadership. It does deal with the issue of a good ruler undermined by bad counselors--like al-Hakim and Bakathir's versions--but Salim also includes more direct calls for collective self-determination, and some negotiation of what democracy actually means. The bad counselors element is personified most directly with Awalih, the head of the police, who runs a totalitarian, repressive regime with king Oedipus' tacit consent--largely because Oedipus concerns himself with inventing futuristic machines for Thebes, rather than paying attention to the actions of his ministers. So while Oedipus is trying to raise Thebes to new heights of technology, freedom, luxury, and leisure, he's unaware (through willful ignorance, to a substantial degree) that his chief of police is arresting, torturing, and even killing those he deems political opponents.
But the other interesting element of the play's view of democracy is the disjunction between Oedipus' initial view of democracy and Tiresias' view. Oedipus agrees to kill the sphinx in exchange for being made king. Tiresias argues that the people must work collectively to kill the sphinx, rather than relying on a single heroic figure to save them. Initially, the people side with Oedipus, who doesn't actually kill the sphinx, but because the people believe he did they put him in charge of the city. Oedipus does, in fact, bring major advancements. But when the sphinx returns, he realizes that even if he goes out to face it again and "defeats" the beast, at some point he will die and no longer be able to fight on behalf of Thebes. Oedipus therefore concludes that Tiresias was right and that the Theban people must work together to defeat the beast, to rule themselves and lead themselves, rather than relying on a strong leader who promises/represents a solution to all problems.
https://youtu.be/ISeyo3WFmug
An interview with the director of the first English language production: https://youtu.be/ke7HOy-1KxU
Oedipus, by Walid Ikhlasi: I'm tempted to call this play a Mecha-Oedipus, because rather than an oracular prophecy we get a prophecy from a computer. The play centers of Dr. Suffian, a geography professor in love with Sulaf. He is intensely proud of his son Yazin, but Suffian's relationship with his wife Asma deteriorates over the course of the play. At the beginning, Suffian's colleague, Dr. Al-Bahi convinces Suffian to discuss his early childhood and inner feelings for Al-Bahi's computer, which Al-bahi believes can then reveal deep human truths. When the computer predicts that Suffian will impregnate his daughter, kill the one he loves most, and long for a death he's unable to find, Suffian reacts with both scorn and disgust. However, as the play goes on, we begin to get hints that Sulaf may be Suffian's daughter, a suspicion that is eventually confirmed when Suffian both meets her "father" and sees a picture of her mother in a family album--recognizing her as the woman he had an affair with decades before. Sulaf is already pregnant with Suffian's child, fulfilling the first part of the prophecy. Then Suffian decides to poison himself, but as he's writing a suicide note to his son, Yazin unknowingly drinks the poisoned water himself. This fulfills both the second and third parts of the computer's prophecy, with Suffian inadvertently poisoning his beloved son with the poison he intended for himself, thereby preventing his own death. The last scene of the play returns to Suffian and Al-Bahi, both much deteriorated, Suffian from his tribulations and Al-Bahi because Sulaf (whom he also loved) quit her job as his assistant without notice. Suffian asserts that the prophecy came true because the computer said it, as opposed to the computer saying it because it would come true, and he begs the computer to allow him a quick death. Initially Al-Bahi contradicts his friend, claiming that the computer cannot create or control the future, only record and extrapolate from available data--but he does end the play wondering whether Suffian "Has...turned himself into Oedipus, or was Oedipus latent in him without his knowledge?" (444).
https://youtu.be/DJPqmWMbgHM
https://youtu.be/q4Idk9LAYZA
The Tragedy of Oedipus, by Ali Ahmad Bakathir: Like al-Hakim, Bakathir is really interested in the theme of a good leader led astray by bad advisers, but Bakathir's play focused much more on a religious issue. On the one hand is Lucasius, the Temple High priest who has accumulated a lot of money, wealth, and property for the temple, and on the other hand is Tiresias, who was kicked out of the Temple and banished from Thebes. When plague and famine hit Thebes, Tiresias manages to get into the palace to see Oedipus, whom he convinces to accept what Oedipus already knows in his heart/unconscious mind--namely, that he killed Laius, his father, and married Jocasta, his mother. And while Tiresias brings Oedipus to repent of his sins, he also exposes Lucasius for having engineered all of these events through a series of false oracles meant to guide Oedipus to the throne. This changes the nature of Oedipus' antagonism to Lucasius. Before Oedipus had blamed him for hoarding money that should be used to help combat the famine, but now Oedipus also blames the priest for setting these traps for himself and his family. The third act of the play is essentially a showdown between Lucasius on the one hand and Oedipus and Tiresias on the other, and Tiresias is able to prove Lucasius' machinations step by step from before Oedipus' birth, through his exposure by Laius, through the revelation of who his parents were, through tempting him to return to Thebes, through a fake Sphinx (which was actually a priest in a costume murdering people). The people are persuaded, and they call for Lucasius' banishment. Oedipus seeks his own banishment as penance for his sins, but the people ask him to remain as king because of his wisdom and goodness. He initially accepts, but then decides in the short final scene that he must leave to wander, exiled from Thebes, with only Antigone, who insists on going with him.
https://youtu.be/yr_rfHoMqoY
The Comedy of Oedipus, by Ali Salim: Salim's adaptation of Oedipus is very focused on the question of democracy and leadership. It does deal with the issue of a good ruler undermined by bad counselors--like al-Hakim and Bakathir's versions--but Salim also includes more direct calls for collective self-determination, and some negotiation of what democracy actually means. The bad counselors element is personified most directly with Awalih, the head of the police, who runs a totalitarian, repressive regime with king Oedipus' tacit consent--largely because Oedipus concerns himself with inventing futuristic machines for Thebes, rather than paying attention to the actions of his ministers. So while Oedipus is trying to raise Thebes to new heights of technology, freedom, luxury, and leisure, he's unaware (through willful ignorance, to a substantial degree) that his chief of police is arresting, torturing, and even killing those he deems political opponents.
But the other interesting element of the play's view of democracy is the disjunction between Oedipus' initial view of democracy and Tiresias' view. Oedipus agrees to kill the sphinx in exchange for being made king. Tiresias argues that the people must work collectively to kill the sphinx, rather than relying on a single heroic figure to save them. Initially, the people side with Oedipus, who doesn't actually kill the sphinx, but because the people believe he did they put him in charge of the city. Oedipus does, in fact, bring major advancements. But when the sphinx returns, he realizes that even if he goes out to face it again and "defeats" the beast, at some point he will die and no longer be able to fight on behalf of Thebes. Oedipus therefore concludes that Tiresias was right and that the Theban people must work together to defeat the beast, to rule themselves and lead themselves, rather than relying on a strong leader who promises/represents a solution to all problems.
https://youtu.be/ISeyo3WFmug
An interview with the director of the first English language production: https://youtu.be/ke7HOy-1KxU
Oedipus, by Walid Ikhlasi: I'm tempted to call this play a Mecha-Oedipus, because rather than an oracular prophecy we get a prophecy from a computer. The play centers of Dr. Suffian, a geography professor in love with Sulaf. He is intensely proud of his son Yazin, but Suffian's relationship with his wife Asma deteriorates over the course of the play. At the beginning, Suffian's colleague, Dr. Al-Bahi convinces Suffian to discuss his early childhood and inner feelings for Al-Bahi's computer, which Al-bahi believes can then reveal deep human truths. When the computer predicts that Suffian will impregnate his daughter, kill the one he loves most, and long for a death he's unable to find, Suffian reacts with both scorn and disgust. However, as the play goes on, we begin to get hints that Sulaf may be Suffian's daughter, a suspicion that is eventually confirmed when Suffian both meets her "father" and sees a picture of her mother in a family album--recognizing her as the woman he had an affair with decades before. Sulaf is already pregnant with Suffian's child, fulfilling the first part of the prophecy. Then Suffian decides to poison himself, but as he's writing a suicide note to his son, Yazin unknowingly drinks the poisoned water himself. This fulfills both the second and third parts of the computer's prophecy, with Suffian inadvertently poisoning his beloved son with the poison he intended for himself, thereby preventing his own death. The last scene of the play returns to Suffian and Al-Bahi, both much deteriorated, Suffian from his tribulations and Al-Bahi because Sulaf (whom he also loved) quit her job as his assistant without notice. Suffian asserts that the prophecy came true because the computer said it, as opposed to the computer saying it because it would come true, and he begs the computer to allow him a quick death. Initially Al-Bahi contradicts his friend, claiming that the computer cannot create or control the future, only record and extrapolate from available data--but he does end the play wondering whether Suffian "Has...turned himself into Oedipus, or was Oedipus latent in him without his knowledge?" (444).
https://youtu.be/DJPqmWMbgHM
December 30, 2019
Oedipus by Walid Ikhlasi *** -- This is an interesting take on the Oedipus legend, with the computer serving as a fortune teller/soothsayer. In a way, the computer acts more like the Sphinx, sharing puzzles. Suffian blames the computer for his problems, but I don’t understand that.
The melodramatic moments with his Suffian’s wife take away from the otherwise heightened language. So the tone is a bit uneven. Also, the death at the end is a bit contrived. (I won’t say who in order to not spoil it.)
The melodramatic moments with his Suffian’s wife take away from the otherwise heightened language. So the tone is a bit uneven. Also, the death at the end is a bit contrived. (I won’t say who in order to not spoil it.)
December 17, 2023
Quite interesting to see such different takes on the Oedipus myth!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews