Pix: Val Adamson
(Aphile Khoza; Mlungisi
Ngcobo; Andiswa Nqashi; Sylvia Sithole; Asanda Makhanya; Palesa Xesibe; Anele
Ngcobo; Noxolo Dlamini; Samkelisiwe Mthethwa, and Oratile Nikwe)
Durban University of Technology presents a modern re-imaging
of Sophocle’s great Greek tragedy: King Oedipus
This will take place from May 12 to
15 at 18h00 in the Actor’s Studio, DUT Courtyard.
Laden with incredible imagery and timeless symbolism, the
great Greek tragedy: Sophocles’ King
Oedipus is given a fresh lease on life by the first year DUT performance
students to be staged in the round at the Actor’s Studio, DUT Courtyard Theatre
precinct.
Directed by Sikhuthali Oliver Bonga, and designed by Yandisa
Taleni, this reimagined DUT staging of King
Oedipus integrates first-year performance techniques students, experimenting
in bridging historical Greek tragedy with immersive, interactive contemporary
creative practice.
(Asanda Makhanya
(wearing brown dress); Palesa Xesibe (wearing orange doek); Aphile Khoza
(wearing orange dress and black jersey), and Anele Ngcobo (wearing maroon
dress)
First performed around 429 BC, King Oedipus is widely considered one of the greatest plays of
Western literature, and the most famous of all Greek tragedies ever written. It
has all the elements of an epic modern crowd pleaser in the same vein as Game of Thrones: incest, war, plague,
murder, sex, and battles with mythical creatures.
The story centres around King Oedipus of Thebes, who
unknowingly fulfils a prophecy that he will kill his father and marry his
mother. Trying to end a plague, Oedipus vows to find the murderer of the former
king, Laius, only to discover that he himself is the culprit, having married
his own mother, Jocasta. Upon realizing the truth, Jocasta hangs herself and
Oedipus lives out the rest of his life in exile after gouging out his own eyes
in despair.
Bonga, moves the action to contemporary Durban, where the
great plague takes the form of our desperate and divisive economic reality. The
Theben folk have become powerless in the hands of their proud bourgeois leader.
Staged in a space echoing the tragedy of the homeless community living under
the bridge at the end of Moore / Che Guevara Road where the social outcasts and
poorest of the poor live. Society is divided into the “believers” and the
“non-believers” whose empathy, moral compass and ultimately their senses
themselves diminish as they witness the decline and undoing of Sophocles’ King Oedipus.
Two commentators, the all-knowing, omnipresent Greek chorus,
or court jesters, are two homeless tramps who observe the story unfold with
harsh observations disguised as humour.
Stylistically, King
Oedipus combines high drama and physical theatre with moments of humour.
Bonga experiments with Dr Obakeng Kgwasi’s technique of Bosophytrics which uses
body somatic physicality, high theatricality, and African theatre techniques of
repetition and sound.
King Oedipus
features a cast of almost 60 first years and is presented in English, isiZulu
and physical theatre.
It is a companion piece to Lysistrata In the Hood a timeless comedy / drama written by Ancient
Greek playwright Aristophanes about war, feminism and the universal power of
women, which comes to the Courtyard Theatre at DUT for two public performances
on May 21 and 22 at 18h00. Directed by Marcia Mzindle.
“Since you have chosen
to insult my blindness—
you have your
eyesight, and you do not see
how miserable you are,
or where you live,
or who it is who
shares your household.
Do you know the family
you come from?
Without your knowledge
you’ve become
the enemy of your own
kindred.”
Sophocles.
Event Details:
Venue: The Actor’s Studio, alongside Courtyard Theatre,
Durban University of Technology
Dates: 12, 13, 14, 15 May 2026 at 18h00
Tickets at the door.
There will be a special performance for members of the
city’s homeless community at the Denis Hurley Centre.
Warning: Contains
strong language and scenes of violence and is recommended for mature audiences.
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