Oedipus the King by Hong Kong Theatre Works

 

So I went to see this Oedipus the King by Hong Kong Theatre Works today

I've never seen their production before

nor have I ever heard of them

The venue was North District Town Hall Auditorium, which is very far from me

but thanks to MTR it only takes like 1.5 hr to travel across Hong Kong

I went there with two friends, as I mentioned in the previous entry

We took the theatre course together in year 2

and the teacher actually played us some videos of companies performing this in class

Greek tragedies were played by actors with masks on

so seeing live masked actors is actually one of the things I most looked forward to

and of course, it is always intriguing to see how classical plays are moded and played on a Hong Kong stage

Before the play started I saw a lot of junior secondary school students there

It surprised me very much because I didnt expect such young students would be interested in it

We were guessing maybe their school had encouraged/required them to come

anyway it is always good for children/teenagers to have a chance to appreciate classics

The play started with the actors walking out with their masks in hands solemnly

forming a circle, facing inside, then putting on the masks together

and when it ended, they took off their masks in the same way

i wonder if it's a kind of ritual originated from ancient Greece (i know, i should've paid more attention in class)

Back in those days when tragedies were played in huge theatres that could contain an audience greater than ten thousands, it's necessary to put on masks to exaagerate the face of the actors

it seemed to me like when the actors put their masks on, they are no longer themselves, but the characters

when they put it down, they come back to themselves again 

I didnt have a chance to ask the people from HKTW why they only had half-masks instead of the full ones

but i guess it's partly due to the small size of the current audience

besides, unlike the traditional ones these masks are irregular in shape and have different colous

they remind me of Sichuan masks :P

The whole play was performed by altogether 5 actors

while it has like 9 or 10 characters

to be honest, I thought there were more - I mean, I didn't notice some characters were actually the same people

of course it's partly because the actors have put on masks

but they even have different ways to speak, walk, gesture, and all those

Since I didnt keep the booklet, I still cant tell who's who, so

and about the tragedy itself

some people say it's about Oedipus facing his fate bravely

like when at the end he realises that he's the guilty guy he himself is looking for

he doesnt escape, but accepts the fate and punishes himself

i dun think it's about that

i think it's about how one's personality determines his fate

it's solely because Oedipus's determination/stubbornness to find out the truth

that it ultimately leads to his own sorrowful end

if he doesnt insist that much, like, he gives up the finding at some point of the thing,

listens to the prophet, doesnt send for the shepherd, or returns to Corinth to succeed his kingship

then he'd not have to reveal the horrible facts himself

and would not have to blind himself and leave the city

one thing i dun understand is

if jocasta is Oedipus' wife, how come she doesnt notice the old wounds on his feet before the shepherd from Corinth talked about this?

Generally I like this show very much, especially the performing part

If they put on some other Greek tragedies or even Shakespeare or some other classical works,

I'd definitely be glad to go see it