ANTHROPOLIS III: Ödipus

In the organizer's words:

by Sophocles / Roland Schimmelpfennig
Director: Karin Beier

The most famous riddle of all time is solved by Oedipus. When asked by the Sphinx which creature has only one voice and sometimes two legs, sometimes three, sometimes four and the more legs it has, the weaker it is, Oedipus answers: "Man". The age of the Anthropocene has begun on a mythical level. The Sphinx is dead. But now that the riddles have been solved, the problems begin. Oedipus, who has just been prophesied to kill his father and marry his mother, is given the rule of Thebes as thanks for his triumph. An unprecedented decision by the city to hand over power to a stranger. At first, his "reasonable" reign seems to prove the citizens' petition right. The city prospered under his rule. But unknowingly, he slips deeper and deeper into his fate. With his mother Iocaste, he fathered four children: sons Eteocles and Polyneikes and daughters Antigone and Ismene. Then a plague epidemic breaks out in Thebes. This is the hour of the return of religion. Apollo, the priestess and the seer Teiresias strike back. The enlightened Oedipus leads the first circumstantial trial in world literature against himself. But in a final act of self-empowerment, he defends himself against the legacy of an absolute truth. In vain?

With "Oedipus", Sophocles has written a masterpiece of literary history. To this day, the tragedy inspires numerous reinterpretations of the power and truth complex to which a society is subject.

With: Karin Neuhäuser, Ernst Stötzner, Devid Striesow, Julia Wieninger and Michael Wittenborn

Director: Karin Beier
Stage: Johannes Schütz
Costumes: Wicke Naujoks
Choir composition and musical direction: Jörg Gollasch
Lighting: Holger Stellwag
Choreographic collaboration: Valenti Rocamora i Tora
Costume collaboration: Teresa Heiß
Choir rehearsals: Jörg Gollasch, Christoph Jöde and Alexander Weise

Further information: Oedipus | Deutsches Schauspielhaus Hamburg