We were 'forced' to watch this play at the SLU Gym. I say 'forced' for we bought the tickets because it was a 10-plus point (I think) for us in our class standing. I was taking up nursing so I needed the additional points badly (tee-hee).
Oedipus the King unfolds as a murder mystery, a political thriller, and a psychological whodunit. Throughout this mythic story of patricide and incest, Sophocles emphasizes the irony of a man determined to track down, expose, and punish an assassin, who turns out to be himself. As the play opens, the citizens of Thebes beg their king, Oedipus, to lift the plague that threatens to destroy the city. Oedipus has already sent his brother-in-law, Creon, to the oracle to learn what to do.
On his return, Creon announces that the oracle instructs them to find the murderer of Laius, the king who ruled Thebes before Oedipus. The discovery and punishment of the murderer will end the plague. At once, Oedipus sets about to solve the murder. Summoned by the king, the blind prophet Tiresias at first refuses to speak, but finally accuses Oedipus himself of killing Laius. Oedipus mocks and rejects the prophet angrily, ordering him to leave, but not before Tiresias hints darkly of an incestuous marriage and a future of blindness, infamy, and wandering.
Another worry haunts Oedipus. As a young man, he learned from an oracle that he was fated to kill his father and marry his mother. Fear of the prophecy drove him from his home in Corinth and brought him ultimately to Thebes. Again, Jocasta advises him not to worry about prophecies. Oedipus finds out from a messenger that Polybus, king of Corinth, Oedipus’ father, has died of old age. Jocasta rejoices—surely this is proof that the prophecy Oedipus heard is worthless. Still, Oedipus worries about fulfilling the prophecy with his mother, Merope, a concern Jocasta dismisses.
Overhearing, the messenger offers what he believes will be cheering news. Polybus and Merope are not Oedipus’ real parents. In fact, the messenger himself gave Oedipus to the royal couple when a shepherd offered him an abandoned baby from the house of Laius. Oedipus becomes determined to track down the shepherd and learn the truth of his birth. Suddenly terrified, Jocasta begs him to stop, and then runs off to the palace, wild with grief.
Confident that the worst he can hear is a tale of his lowly birth, Oedipus eagerly awaits the shepherd. At first the shepherd refuses to speak, but under threat of death he tells what he knows—Oedipus is actually the son of Laius and Jocasta. And so, despite his precautions, the prophecy that Oedipus dreaded has actually come true. Realizing that he has killed his father and married his mother, Oedipus is agonized by his fate.
Rushing into the palace, Oedipus finds that the queen has killed herself. Tortured, frenzied, Oedipus takes the pins from her gown and rakes out his eyes, so that he can no longer look upon the misery he has caused. Now blinded and disgraced, Oedipus begs Creon to kill him, but as the play concludes, he quietly submits to Creon’s leadership, and humbly awaits the oracle that will determine whether he will stay in Thebes or be cast out forever.
Reaction/Analysis:
There is no doubt that the costumes of the presenters gave a big impact on the play because it was able to give the audience a glimpse of the medieval days where the setting took place, particularly in a Old Roman theme. We also were able to see that they used costumes that were made particularly for the actors and actresses in the play. Generally it was appropriately made to fit the theme of the story. But there is an exemption, we noticed that the hairstyles of some actors, on with a fancy hairdo, which is in today, was not that appropriate for the setting. It looked like an actor wearing rubber shoes in a Lord of the Rings movie.
In other aspects of the play like the lighting and the sounds, we can say that it was satisfactory. The stage also was lighted enough for us to see the presenters in the play and the sounds was also loud enough for us to hear properly what the actors and actresses were saying. But unfortunately, the message of the songs was not that understood because of some factors. These factors are; the chorus was overcrowded, and this caused too many voices which made it hard to hear. Another was that some actors cannot pronounce the words properly, maybe because of their inexperience in the field of acting.
It was evident that most of the performers acting was exceptional. Like the performance of Ms. Amy Perez (as Jocasta) who was very striking. She really was able to pull it off and support the ill acting of Aj Dee (as Oedipus) who was not that efficient in portraying his role. It was really disappointing for the audience because as the main character, he should be the one who should have carried the whole play and make it interesting and exiting as possible for the viewers. Aj Dee’s pronunciation of words was terrible. It was like he was eating what he is saying, making it very hard for the audience to understand the story. The climax of the story was the part where Aj Dee should have shined, but sadly he was not able to pull it through.
We congratulate the supporting actors who performed. Decenteceo as Creon, Orly de Dios as Priest/chorus leader, Felix Oyales as sheperd, Sol Brosio as the Corinthian messenger and the chorus members. And also Amy Peres and Aj Dee who was very good in tearing his clothes and making the young ladies scream for his undoubting good looks and muscular body structure. They really were exceptional actors who gave a very striking and very emotional, with feelings kind of performance, making the Oedipus the King one of the most memorable plays we have ever watched.
Ø Oedipus - The protagonist of Oedipus the King was played by the famous matinee idol Aj Dee. He was taken from the house of Laius as a baby and left in the mountains with his feet bound together. Oedipus was destined to sleep with his mother and kill his father. Knowing this fate, his parents abandoned him, and he was raised by a different family. However, Oedipus had no knowledge of this, and after hearing of his fate he left his parents in order not to hurt them. After many years, he discovers that he has done exactly what his fate had predicted, as he has found and married his mother by chance, and killed his father on the road without knowing who he was. His pursue for truth of his origin led him to his downfall and to a befalling incident which was a matter of life and death.
Ø Jocasta - Oedipus’s wife and mother, and Creon’s sister was played by the everblooming Amy Perez. Jocasta appears only in the final scenes of Oedipus the King. In her first words, she attempts to make peace between Oedipus and Creon, pleading with Oedipus not to banish Creon. She is comforting to her husband and calmly tries to urge him to reject Tiresias’s terrifying prophecies as false. She was previously married to Laius. Although she wants Thebes to get better, she does not want Oedipus to pursue the path he has taken in finding out why Thebes is plague-stricken, as she is scared that what the oracles predicted when Oedipus was born is true. Jocasta, up to this point, does not believe in the oracles, since she thought that her son had died and could not live to do what the oracles had proclaimed he would do.
Ø Creon - Acted out by Edwin Decenteceo, Oedipus’s brother-in-law, Creon was accused by Oedipus of attempting to kill him and take his title. Creon also supported Tiresias, who predicted Oedipus' fate, so Oedipus resentments him even more. What Oedipus imagines to be Creon's murderous intentions, however, are discounted when it's revealed that Creon owns a third of Thebes but chooses not to rule.
Ø Tiresias - Tiresias (played by Mel Magno himself, the artistic director), the blind soothsayer of Thebes, appears in Oedipus the King. He predicts fate and can see the future. He is called on by Oedipus for advice, but when he reveals Oedipus' fate, the king gets angry, accuses him of conspiring with Creon to kill him and take his place as king, and tells him to leave.
Ø Laios: Oedipus' father and Jocasta's first husband. It was his fate to be killed by his son, and therefore he tried to get rid of his newborn boy. However, his fate befell him when Oedipus (who never knew his true parents) got into a fight with Laius' party at a crossroads, and killed him.
Ø Herdsman/Shepherd: Oedipus was given to the herdsman (Felix Oyales) by Jocasta, who tried to get rid of her ill-fated child. This herdsman once grazed sheep in Mount Kithairon with the Corinthian, and had given Jocasta's child to him. Also, he was the only survivor of the fight between Oedipus and Lauis. He again appeared at the last part of the play to make out the entangled consequences.
Ø Corinthian Messenger: Acted out by Sol Rosel Brioso, he was the man who brought news of Polybus' death and who asks Oedipus to rule Corinth. He also informs Oedipus that Merope and Polybus are not his real parents, and that he himself gave them the baby Oedipus, whom he'd received from a herdsman.
Ø The priest or chorus leader: The priest that represents the people when they come to Oedipus to complain of the disasters that are befalling them and the city.
Ø Chorus members- Sometimes comically obtuse or fickle, sometimes perceptive, sometimes melodramatic, the Chorus reacts to the events onstage. They take part in breaking the monotony of some scenes depicted in the play. The members were composed of the following: Bien Barrameda, Adrian Suva, Leo Priscilla, Francis Barrameda, Bryan Ignacio, and Die-co Sanguyo.
“All for one and one for all… That’s what friends are for…”
Composed of five members namely, Jayvee Magabo; Joshua Sepulchre; Lester John Leon; Pearl Joei Mayor; and Lexa Elaine Capuyan, the group knew that the work would be faster and easier if they divide the work among themselves. The group worked as one yet in their own way of thinking. The division of labor was also based on the group member’s capability, talents and skills. Although these said skills are not fully trained or developed, the activity could be a way of developing these hidden talents and skills.
Pearl Joei worked with the lessons learned in the play and the characters the group wanted best. She made a good deed on it as she has portrayed all our perceptions of the stageplay with just a flick of her pen and a finger on her computer keyboard. As talented as she is, the group decided to make her work on the lessons learned in the play since she could pick up scenes and analyze them thoroughly. She could be weird, a rakista to some, yet she stands to her own beliefs and could make the best out of everything.
On the other hand, Jayvee made use of his story-telling powers through making a synopsis of the play. Jayvee could sometimes use his imagination to make up a story he could tell most of his friends with. Having the skill to summarize a long play or story is an amazing thing an individual could really have. Jayvee could be very imaginative at times but most of the time, his seriousness leads his thinking to a very creative story-telling session. This would be a reason why the group assigned him the summary of the play. He’s good at repeating stories or movies he read and watched, respectively. He deserves to be called the potion master for his talent although it would be better to call him by his real name.
Joshua pursued his assignment of making a good reaction about the play. His constructive criticisms led to a good impression of his own self. He opened up comments about the play using his own method of describing it. Making a reaction out of everything and thinking critically is a difficult thing a person could learn. Joshua makes the most out of it when he judges things without hurting a soul. If there’s one person in this world who could criticize you without letting you get hurt, the name’s Joshua Sepulchre.
If the play had its artistic director in the name of Mel Magno, the group has its artistic illustrator, Lester “Gibson” Leon by name. Once again, Lester proved to the world he could express his real self through his picturesque art work. His journalism skills has now come to the open as he satisfies his itch of making out pictures from just the scribbles of his pencil or pen. Possessing a talent like being able to draw and illustrate or even paint is a gift not everyone in this world has—it’s a rare gift.
Lexa Elaine on the other hand proved to herself her skill in sculpting people by use of her adjectives and character descriptions. She gets the part of making descriptions of the cast due to her ability of writing articles and stories with characters she usually makes out of her imagination she originally learned from her journalism activities, seminars and workshops. With these skills she possesses, she readily could characterize casts if she has her mood in the right situation.
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