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Oedipus the King
- Narrated by: full cast
- Length: 1 hr and 46 mins
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Oedipus the King
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Publisher's Summary
This perfomance features a new translation from the original Greek by director Nicholas Rudall.
Starring (in alphabetical order):
Spencer Garrett as Shepard, Chorus
Francis Guinan as Messenger, Chorus
Gregory Itzin as Creon
Charles Kimbrough as Priest of Zeus, Chorus
Harry J. Lennis as Oedipus
Rod McLachlan as Second Messenger, Chorus
Carolyn Seymour as Jocasta
W. Morgan Sheppard as Teiresias, Chorus
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What listeners say about Oedipus the King
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
- Mark
- 2009-11-24
Superb
Extremely atmospheric. The translation is unobstrusive, natural and unforced but still "classic". Close your eyes- you will feel like you are in Athens on a summer night 2500 years ago.
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9 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
- Willie
- 2010-11-04
Excellence.
Excellent drama... perfect audio I would highly recommend this audio book to every one. I truly enjoyed this audio book.
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6 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
- bet
- 2010-10-23
perfect teaching tool
I needed to quickly re-read this to help out a college student who works for me (I often use this as an excuse to re-read great works! lol) and this version is wonderful. Great voices and performances, easy to understand - as the work is a play - listening really brings it to life in a way that reading just cannot. BUT - the absolute best part of this production is the incredibly in depth discussion at the end - the discussion covered every question my worker had asked me to clarify and so much more.
I, myself, love a good brit accent - in truth....makes my knees go weak, but I know many Americans can't decipher them - so this is done by American actors - very good ones, so if that is a concern for you - you will enjoy this production.
"Count no may happy 'til he's dead...." Sophocles.
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5 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- sam
- 2014-08-17
A Wonderful Performance And Translation
I downloaded this because I needed to listen to Oedipus Rex for a poetry and drama class, and I'm glad I went with this version. When anyone does a version of any of the Greek Tragedies they have to translate from the original Ancient Greek, and thus your milage will vary depending on a number of factors. The director of this performance, as he explained in the interview following the play, which was a very nice touch, states that he chose too make the language modern, but of a more proper sort that still retain the tone of the original Greek.
It's kind of like dubbing anime; you stay as close to the original as possible while making changes when necessary, not to take away from the original, but to make it more relatable to the audience and easier to understand.
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- D. Martin
- 2012-07-01
Why is this so well regarded?
OK, it's old, I get that, and it had a lot of influence on later drama. There are plenty of good reasons to want to listen to this play which, like all the LA Theatreworks pieces, is extremely well produced; but one of them is not that it's actually an enjoyable listen. Drama has evolved somewhat over the last 2500 years. We expect things like character development and suspense. You're not going to get those here.
You already know the Oedipus story: he kills his father and marries his mother. This story is told through the framing device of Oedipus, several years later, having all this explained to him and then refusing to believe it, insisting on having various people brought to him to confirm that what we all know is true is true. The drama comes from Oedipus telling us over and over just how much he's suffering, moaning pitifully (though the modern take would be more ick than woe is me). Again, the actors do a great job, but it's still really boring.
Look, call me a Philistine if you'd like, I have nothing to prove to you. I'm a huge fan of live theater and strongly recommend most of the LA Theatreworks productions. Again, this is an important work for historical reasons, and if that's enough for you, by all means listen to it. But don't expect to be entertained because it's just not entertaining.
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Dom
- 2016-03-03
great story
could care less about the questions they ask at the end but other then that no complaints
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- arthur patterson
- 2015-03-02
Excellent performance!
Sophocles is one of the greatest play writes to have ever lived. Oedipus tackles one several important themes in greek literature including: free will, justice, family, friendship. Exceptional translation and pertinence of this wonderful greek play.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Incognito69
- 2018-10-05
A true Classic
an absolutely great performance of a true Greek tragedy. Well over a millennium since this was written and the complexity and richness of the tale still resonates today...are we truly in control of our destiny or are we victims of fate? This is a question that we may never fully know.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- E. Voss
- 2018-06-03
Mankind masterpiece presented by excellent cast
The play is an absolute masterpiece about the human experience. Perennial, short, compact and riveting. The cast is excellent and "invisible": the listener will focus on the story rather than idiosyncrasies of actors. The translation is great, as poetic as any work from that era but modern enough to sound natural.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Joseph Rodrigo
- 2015-12-02
awesome
I was just inspired by everyone's performance, and the story, brought down from the long words.
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1 person found this helpful