Performance Space 122 Presents 'Oedipus' 5/21-6/1

 Performance Space 122 and Dublin's Pan Pan Theatre present the New York premiere of Oedipus Loves You, a wickedly funny and wonderfully theatrical take on the Oedipus plays of Sophocles and Seneca and their legacy, Freudian psychology.  These performances are part of a highly acclaimed world tour, following the Dublin premiere in 2006 (including to date: the UK - Glasgow and London; Germany - Dusseldorf, Hamburg, Leipzig and Berlin; Canada - Quebec, Edmonton, Calgary, Lethbridge, Banff; Austria; Switzerland; Finland; and arriving in the US fresh from China - Beijing and Shanghai).

Pan Pan's punk rock sensibility strikes a fierce chord in this savvy update of Sophocles' classic drama of the ultimate dysfunctional family.  They bring decidedly modern twists and ample humour to their explorations yet stay more true to the thrust and themes of the original then you might first think.  Oedipus is still counselled by the wise Tiresias, but the sightless sage is now a Freudian analyst and ex-Glam Rocker.  Sexual desire still runs unchecked and tensions bubble away, but now the backdrop is the barbecue grill of Oedipus's suburban hideaway.  The psychodynamics are literally amplified as the characters take up rock instruments to channel their rage in live music sessions that are integral to their group family therapy.

From the breakfast table to the back garden barbecue, the seething dramatic tension is ratcheted up by Gavin Quinn's remote-control direction and thrash metal performed live by five of Ireland's most talented and multi-skilled actors: Ned Dennehy, Bush Moukarzel, Gina Moxley, Aoife Duffin and Dylan Tighe.

Nominated in 2007 for Best Theatre Script for the inaugural ZeBBies awards (Irish Playwrights and Screen Writer's Guild), Oedipus Loves You is written by Gavin Quinn and Simon Doyle and directed by Gavin Quinn.  It is designed by Andrew Clancy with lighting design by Aedin Cosgrove and costume design by Helen McCusker.  Original music is by Gordon is a Mime.

Pan Pan Theatre was founded in 1991 by artistic directors Aedin Cosgrove and Gavin Quinn.  To date, Pan Pan has created fifteen new productions including A Bronze Twist of your Serpent Muscles, winner of the Best Overall Production at the Dublin Theatre Festival Fringe in 1995, Standoffish, winner of a Fringe First at the Adelaide in 2000, Peepshow, created for Poland's Millennium celebrations, and Mac-Beth 7.  In 2006, Pan Pan produced The Playboy of the Western World in Mandarin for a Chinese cast at the Oriental Theatre in Beijing. Pan Pan also founded and produced the Dublin InterNational Theatre Symposium.  Pan Pan Theatre is supported by Arts Council Ireland and the world tour of Oedipus Loves You is supported by Culture Ireland.  For more information, please visit: http://www.panpantheatre.com or e-mail: info@panpantheatre.com

More about Performance Space 122

Performance Space 122 is New York's ultimate destination for cutting-edge theatre, dance, music, live art and cross-media.  Founded in 1979, Performance Space 122 is dedicated to supporting and presenting artists whose work challenges the traditional boundaries of dance, theatre, music, and performance.  Committed to exploring innovative form as well as material, P.S. 122 is steadfast in its search for pioneering artists from a diversity of cultures and points of view.

Oedipus Loves You runs Wednesday, May 21 - Sunday, June 1 on the following schedule:  Wednesday - Sunday at 8:00pm with additional Saturday shows at 11:00pm.  Tickets: $20 each, $15 (students/seniors), $10 (P.S. 122 members).  Tickets may be purchased online at www.ps122.org or via phone at (212) 352-3101.  Performance Space 122 is located at 150 First Avenue at East 9th Street, New York, New York 10009.  www.ps122.org.

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