Oedipus at FDR. Fires crackle and blaze out of trash cans. We're sitting on the ground in a concrete bowl under I-95, with music (the endlessly brilliant James Sugg) throbbing into our brains through earphones. Trucks rumble overhead. Emmanuelle Delpech-Ramey found this astonishing venue, conceived and directed this thrilling version of the myth of Oedipus at Colonus (written by Suli Holum) and assembled a fine and diverse cast, including a chorus of skateboarders.
Blind, exiled, wandering the world, Oedipus (Pearce Bunting) has finally arrived at the end of his journey; he says, "The laws of physics, like fate, followed me." A skateboarder stands at the top of a graffiti-covered concrete cliff and says, "One slip and you lose the edge." Questions linger in the smoky air: Is Oedipus talking about his own destruction or about skateboarding? Is the skateboarder talking about physical risk or mythic inevitability?