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Jilly DiMartino

Professor Grimes

Theatre 121

11 February 2023

The Gospel at Colonus

This was such a unique take on an ancient Greek tragedy that I really appreciated. After

viewing the rather classic take on this performance a couple of times by different people, this is

the first one that has really caught my eye. From the first second, you are drawn in by the

soothing sound of a church organ, giving a sense of warmth. Already this play has a completely

different vibe than it most typically would.

The play told the story of Oedipus, who he was, where his fate lied, and how he refused

that destiny. The director chose to go down a musical route with having a beautiful harmonic

choir along with most of the play being sung. This gave an enjoyable unique effect when

watching the play. Every director who wants to do this play always thinks of a way to be

different and stand out from all the others, and I think this one was very successful.

I almost started to question myself at minute 16:08, when I realized I had the largest

smile on my face while watching such a sad story. It felt wrong, but that shows how sensational

the acting was. The energy that flowed through Oedipus was almost as if you could feel it

through a computer screen. The energy was effective in evoking emotion in the audience because

you could hear the sadness and anger in Oedipus’ voice and the power he used to do it. Mabou

Mines is an amazing singer who played the character of Oedipus quite passionately. In the end,

Oedipus blinds himself due to the shame he feels knowing he fulfilled the horrible curse he
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always meant to outrun. Now that his mother lover has killed herself, and he is blinded, he flees.

I think its kind of poetic that in real life Mabou Mines is a blind man, which in a way connects

him to his character. By giving the impression that Oedipus even before he blinded himself, was

always blind in a way to accepting his true fate.

The high spots of the performance were when the messenger, played by Morgan

Freeman, is going throughout the story and pretty much saying the inner thoughts of every

character. It gives the feeling that the messenger is helping the audience understand rather than

the ones on the stage. During minute 1:18:09, one of the last songs was sung by every member

on stage. As the song went on it grew and grew in power and the camera pans to the audience

joining in and standing, jumping, and clapping. This type of interactive theatre is what really

stands out from the others. It connects the audience with the characters making them feel as if

they are a part of the performance. It gives such a community feeling when everyone in the

building is on the same emotional wave length, and that's what that song did.

This performance shows how we are able to perceive tragedy in many different ways.

Whether it's in a doom and gloom type of way or a passionate and colorful type of way. There

can be happy ways to tell a story and to evoke other emotions. Personally this type of

performance is one that made me feel the most connected to the play and really feel like I

understood everything that happened.