Ralph Fiennes as Oedipus, National Theatre in London (People were allowed to see it on the 8th for a private showing, 10/15/08 , 01/04/09 )
Wow, this guy got it rough on the reviews I have found on him. From all the reviews that I have read he was pretty much either put 'boring' or just plain bad. His control over emotions were too much also there are traces that he may have copied a previous actor from before. Yet the most ideal thing to see is when an actor actually gets into the role. His very heart, and soul sprawled out on the stage for the audience to enjoy...As of what the articles say that Fiennes did not give that type of grueling performance. It seemed that he was trying too hard rather trying to understand the role itself.
Sources:
Oedipus at National Theater review: Critic Charles Spencer; 17, Oct. 2008: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturereviews/3562228/Oedipus-at-the-National-Theatre-Review.html
West End Wingers Review "Oedipus With Ralph Fiennes" 14, Oct 2008:http://westendwhingers.wordpress.com/2008/10/14/review-oedipus-with-ralph-fiennes-national-theatre/
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Billy Crudup as Oedipus, Blue Light Theater Company, New York (10/17/1998-?)
Both articles, that I have read, seem to praise the every astounding Billy Crudup in his performance as Oedipus. However, every star has his faults. At times they have said he gets so caught up in the whimsical part that when he gets to the more suffering part of Oedipus that he fumbles over the lines at times. Than The articles also state that he can be kind of reptitious that his voice never showed any reflection. Yet he tends to save them with his humorous manner in some parts intrigued some of the audience while most were just baffled by it rather than anything else. Billy Crudup, all in all, had given a stellar performance.
Sources:
Theater Journal, University of Columbia; by Tamsen Wolff
Theater Review New York Times, Oct 12, 1998 'Destiny's Child does not quite get the message'; by Ben Brantley
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Mark Brian Sonna as Oedipus, Addison Theater Center Texas, (April 9, 09- ?)
Should a director be an actor in his own play? The reviewer thought otherwise. The way he conveyed Oedipus was not his confident self which led him into his ultimate doom later on. Rather more 'meek' and soft spoken than trying to get to the bottom of things. Basically while everyone did an oustanding job his portrayl of Oedipus would be considered weak. When an actor describes how he would portray his character that means he would have to act out on it correct? Wrong, for this guy he did nothing of the sort and instead contridicted his own words.
Theater Review: Oedipus by Clyde Berry:
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George Ashiotis as King Oedipus, The Mint Space Theater New York (June/3/05-June/26/05)
To say the least, this actor has done a splendid job in his role as Oedipus the King. Would you like to know another little tid bit? He is blind. Mr. Ashitois actually runs a theater troop called the 'Theater by the Blind' where the seeing and the unseeing are able to participate in acting roles. At first he did not want to take on the role of Oedipus but after some convinceing he finally gave in. The way he learned how to memorize his lines is by an auditory learning mechnism. What is really interesting is how he has to train himself ( as long as others) to look at someone in the eye . When opening this program they actually just did Murder mystery plays so that audience would accept them as visually paired people but instead he decided to reach out of the box and do Oedipus which is a more involved play. (He is also a co-artistic director of this play as well.)
Sources: New York Times, http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9403E6D91138F932A25755C0A9639C8B63
Best Seats, by Pamela Ryckman: http://journalism.nyu.edu/pubzone/livewire/archived/theater_by_the_blind_a_company/
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Emerich Robert as Oedipus, The Old Burgtheater Vienna, Austria (Dec/29/1886)
Emerich, a upbeat kinda guy with a passion for acting. When he took on the role of Oedipus they praised for his work. Mind you that he was not as grand as his counter part Mount Sulley in the role but he did an outstanding job otherwise. Hermann Bahr had said his voice produced such extraordinary quality and a riveting performance.
Sources: Richard H. Armstrong: http://www.clas.ufl.edu/ipsa/journal/articles/psyart1999/oedipus/oedipus.ii.html#robert
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Jean Mounet-Sully as Oedipus, Orange Theater Paris France (Only known to be performed in 1888)
The original Oedipus of the Orange theater who critics praised him for this role. With a little help on the translating part, one audience member had said that everyone had been astounded by the way he came upon the stage as if it were second nature to him. In his memoir about the role he played he says he plays it like a religious aspect and goes in feeling a heavy heart for the character however knows that Oedipus is only human and that is how he shall portray him.
Sources:
Wikipedia:http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Jean_Mounet-Sully
Richard H. Armstrong 1998: http://www.clas.ufl.edu/ipsa/journal/articles/psyart1999/oedipus/oedipus.html#paris
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Sir John Martin Harvey as Oedipus, Covent Garden London England (Jan. 1912)
It is not the most entitled role that he has had but it has been one of his most memorable. It was praised, and he went on tour with the role. He also praised the role of Mounet Sully who was a big factor of how he got into the Oedipus character. Sigmund Freud also watched his performance gathering his ideas for the Oedipus Complex.
Sources:
Richard H. Armstrong 1998:http://www.clas.ufl.edu/ipsa/journal/articles/psyart1999/oedipus/oedipus.ii.html#vienna,%201911
The Cambridge Companion (Pg 301): http://books.google.com/books?id=Fy4iSjY2VTYC&pg=PA301&lpg=PA301&dq=oedipus+martin+harvey&source=bl&ots=UAE8kckqf6&sig=ZvR16VLkRnopQDncHmZqixuWVBg&hl=en&ei=_ShnS77dGYS1tgeIyZioBg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CAcQ6AEwADgK#v=onepage&q=oedipus%20martin%20harvey&f=false
Canada Article Site: http://www.lib.unb.ca/Texts/Theatre/Calendars/search_cal.cgi?terms=oedipus&field=all&f_date=&l_date=&order_by=DATE
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Conrad Nelson as Oedipus, London Viaduct Theater (Oct 13 2001-Touring still?)
Latest reviewers have said that Conrad Nelson had brought a raw type of visage to the utterly guilty Oedipus. The way he performed it left the reviewer astonished at how he added some reckless tendencies that made Oedipus actually seem likable. The reviewer even says when the actor who plays Oedipus gauges his eyes out and walks to the front stage where some people actually got up to try and help him.
Sources:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/theobserver/2001/sep/23/features.review67
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Levi Ben-Israel as Oedipus, Theatre Salisbury UAF Alaska (April 8 2005- April 10 2005)
Alaskan natives put on a lovely production of Oedipus, but did the actor live up to his expectations? The reviewers said yes, but he also said that he had no range of emotions. He just went to crying...Yelling...to more crying. However he was quite powerful in his performance...All he needed was to stir in some emotional range and he would have been grand.
Sources:
Sun Star Alex Grantham: http://www.uaf.edu/sunstar/archives/20050405/oedipus.htm
Robinson Duffy: http://www.uaf.edu/theatre/archives/oedipus/OedipusReviewNewsMiner.pdf----
Jay Stratton as Oedipus, Pittsburgh Public Theater Pennsylvania (Oct 4 2006 ?- Oct 29 2006)Stratton portrayed Oedipus as the morally confident which leads to his ultimate downfall. He ultimatly does not go so over bored with the ranges of emotions that he portrays himself as the stubborn angry Oedipus that we often see, to sum up what the reviewer has said. It also helps the moral of the cast because it kind of brings up their level as well. So over all he did a pretty brand spankin job.
Source: 'Public Produces compelling...' Alice T. Carter: http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/ae/theater/s_473914.htmlPost Gazette Stage Review, Christopher Rawson: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06282/728472-325.stm
