An electrifying reimagining of the ultimate love triangle – mother, father, son – Oedipus Electronica is the eagerly awaited new show from Pecho Mama, the team that brought you ★★★★★ Medea Electronica. Pecho Mama’s radical reinvention of Oedipus is a powerhouse production for our times; an intoxicating whirlwind of ecstasy and devastation.
Oedipus Electronica is an unapologetic and unflinching journey into the carnal heart of a woman who has lost everything and has nothing left to hide. An emergency diagnosis crushes Jocasta’s lifelong dream of becoming a mother and sends her spiralling into hedonistic free fall. The love of her life, Laius, carries a secret that could set her free but cost him everything. Oedipus wants to write a story to change the world, but he can’t escape the story that was always written for him.
Mella Faye’s cinematic sound design evokes London’s domestic grit as we travel through the buzzing streets of Brixton. Tanya Stephenson’s lighting design transports you to the heart of South London’s nightlife and the live band onstage drive the action with a soundtrack that hurtles through jazz, techno and home to Pecho Mama’s trademark throbbing Electronica.
Oedipus is perhaps the most well-known of the myths and represents two enduring themes of Greek drama: the flawed nature of humanity and the struggle to control our own destiny. With ‘meta’ echos of Charlie Kaufman and Birdman, Mella Faye’s driving script re-writes this ancient tragedy as a psychological thriller, interrupted by her own struggle to write. It’s a love letter to the art of storytelling and its power to transform us.
Mella Faye, performer and Artistic Director of Pecho Mama comments, “Oedipus has all the ingredients we want – passion, fire, love, loss, and an unspeakable act of human nature. Motherhood is once again a huge theme for us and this is Oedipus told from Jocasta’s point of view. In theatre, you can be at your most dangerous. We don’t hold back from going all the way. It’s savage, raw, vulnerable and godly.”
Oedipus Electronica will take place at The Old Market from Wednesday 15 to Saturday 18 November. Tickets start from £15 and are available to book via The Old Market website – www.theoldmarket.com – or from the TOM Box Office on 01273 201801. Oedipus Electronica is supported by Arts Council England, Corby Cube, Lakeside Theatre, Essex University, Sound and Music and The Old Market.
