Oedipus
The Old Vic, London
 

STAR-STUDDED Oedipus productions appear to be very much in vogue in the West End. No sooner has Robert Icke’s production, starring Mark Strong and Lesley Manville at the Wyndham Theatre, finished than this Ella Hickson adaptation with Hollywood A-lister Rami Malek, of Bohemian Rhapsody fame, and Game of Thrones star Indira Varma, begins.

Malek is about as oddball an Oedipus as they come. His diminutive, imp-like presence and distinctive US drawl is not quite what you expect from the tragic Greek hero. Yet these eccentricities make him all the more captivating to watch, in what proves to be a strangely unique telling of the classic Sophocles play.

For starters, the Matthew Warchus production teams up with contemporary dance group, the Hofesh Shechter Company, whose 10 dancers become the chorus. Their show-stopping physical feats see their bodies twist and contort with abandon, like tripped-out clubbers at a techno rave, serving as exhilarating chapter-breaks as the drama unravels.