The Salem Theatre Company could have just put on Sophocles' "Oedipus Rex" this spring and local audiences would have left satisfied. Instead, the 5-year-old company took on the challenge of staging Seneca's "Oedipus," a rarely performed version of the classic tragedy. And, if that wasn't enough to bite off, the troupe opted to employ a poetic adaptation of the play, written in 1969 by the English poet laureate Ted Hughes.
"You have the opportunity to create your best artwork when you take on projects that aren't easy," said Dominick Pangallo, president of Salem Theatre Company's board of directors and the director of this production of "Oedipus."
Seneca's "Oedipus" is known as a more sophisticated version of Sophocles' "Oedipus Rex," written during the golden age of Greece. Seneca, a Roman philosopher, modernized the play during Nero's destruction of Rome, and his play reflects the times with its description of violence, death and sickness, according to Pangallo, who added that Seneca's version offers more emotionally developed characters who play better onstage.
But Seneca's "Oedipus" was written in Latin and intended to be read at private functions, not performed, so bringing it to stage was a hurdle. Also, Seneca provided no stage direction and Hughes' adaptation is free of punctuation. The Salem Theatre Company thrives on such challenges, according to Pangallo.
"It's a challenge, but it also presents opportunity for creativity, and that goes for not just (for) me as a director, but also the actors and designers," he said.
The basic story line is the same in both versions: Oedipus, king of Thebes, considers returning to his home city of Corinth during a deadly plague in Thebes, a city he escaped to years earlier after Apollo prophesied he would kill his father and marry his mother. Without giving too much away, Oedipus ends up disfiguring himself once he discovers his role in a sordid tale of patricide and incest.
James Wilcox of Beverly, who plays Oedipus, said he had to immerse himself in lengthy pages of dialogue to prepare for the role.
"I hadn't done a classic play before, so it was more of a challenge," said Wilcox, who has been with Salem Theatre Company since 2006.
Wilcox also had to learn to walk with a limp to play Oedipus. Originally he rehearsed with a cane, but it didn't feel genuine, he said, so he and Pangallo decided to drop the cane.
"I believe very much in making the rehearsal a collaborative process," said Pangallo. "I trust my actors a lot."
Jocasta, Oedipus' wife and mother, is played by Julie Korzenik of Marblehead, a Salem Theatre Company actor since 2003.
"Like Oedipus, this is one of those roles that's an actor's role. It's on the list of roles that you want to play," she said. "Emotionally, it's such a big role."
Korzenik said at first she had a problem identifying with Jocasta, who had an incestuous relationship with her son, something Korzenik called "a horrendous societal and personal taboo." Eventually, Korzenik came to appreciate and identify with her character as a woman in love who has suffered tragedy, compounded by ancient Rome's lack of mass communication, such as telephone or e-mail, which may have been used to alert Jocasta to her predicament.
Ultimately, it was Oedipus' compassion for humanity that won her over, she said, the same compassion that attracted Pangallo to Seneca's version in the first place.
"I wouldn't direct a play that didn't have a message I didn't want to tell, a story I didn't want to tell ... Sophocles' Oedipus — that story's been told, and I think that Seneca had a completely different perspective," he said. "Despite all the sickness and violence, the stoic philosophy is that the measure of who you are as a person isn't your ability to change your fate or escape it or blame someone else for it. You have to face it and face it with courage and compassion."
If you go
Who: Salem Theatre Company
What: Seneca's "Oedipus"
When: Weekends, March 21-April 6. Friday, Saturday at 8 p.m.; Sunday at 5 p.m.
Where: Griffen Theatre, 7 Lynde St., Salem
Tickets: Adults, $18, seniors and students, $15. Available at www.salemtheatre.com or 978-790-8546.
