Oedipus El Rey at San Diego Repertory Theatre

In 430 BC, the playwright Sophocles wrote one of the greatest tragedies in the history of the Western world: Oedipus Rex, the tale of a king who from birth was destined to murder his father and marry his mother.

Now the acclaimed playwright and MacArthur Genius Grant winner Luis Alfaro has created a startlingly contemporary adaptation that trades the temples of classical Thebes for the urban barrios of Southern California. With a sly sense of humor, he melds the ancient with the modern: Oedipus is imprisoned for ripping off a Costco; Jocasta splashes on the Jean Naté™ while glued to “All My Children,” and the oracle offers life coaching for cash only.

Placing the passionate love between Oedipus and his mother, Jocasta, squarely at the play’s center, Alfaro creates a spellbinding dance of desire and eroticism. But the 2,500 year old question, asked by a prescient,opinionated chorus of heavily tattooed inmates is still the same. “Is our young homeboy doomed to suffer el destino?” The word on the street for El Rey is not good.
Ages: Contains adult themes, violence, language and nudity.