'Oedipus El Rey'

Center Theatre Group is proud to partner with the Getty Museum in presenting MacArthur Fellow Luis Alfaro’s Chicanx adaptations of classic Greek plays, Electricidad, Oedipus El Rey, and Mojada in streamed readings filmed at the Kirk Douglas Theatre. Alfaro's award-winning trilogy of plays transplant themes of the ancient Greek tragedies of Electra, Oedipus the King, and Medea into the 21st -century streets of Los Angeles, giving voice to the concerns of the Chicanx and wider Latinx communities. With performances around the world including celebrated runs at the Mark Taper Forum, The Public Theater, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and the Getty Villa, Alfaro’s electric adaptations question the role that citizens and community play in social issues facing us all today.

About Oedipus El Rey

As he approaches the end of a lengthy prison sentence, Oedipus is ready to taste his long-awaited freedom. But physical liberation comes at a price, and life on the outside proves its own kind of prison ruled by a cruel and violent fate. Based on Sophocles’ classic tale, Oedipus El Rey is an urgent examination of modern institutions, social barriers, and the power of storytelling for those bold enough to challenge the gods of our time.

“...Oedipus dazzles... [it] strikes to the bone of one of our more disturbing ancient legends and gives it new, breathtakingly vital life.” —The Mercury News

Performed in English with option for Spanish captioning.

About Luis Alfaro

Luis Alfaro is a Chicano writer known for his work in poetry, theater, short stories, performance and journalism. Luis spent six seasons as the Playwright-in-Residence at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival from 2013–2019. He was a member of the Playwright’s Ensemble at Chicago’s Victory Gardens Theatre from 2013–2020. Luis is the recipient of a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship. He was recently awarded the PEN America/Laura Pels International Foundation Theater Award for a Master Dramatist, the United States Artist Fellowship, and the Ford Foundation’s Art of Change Fellowship. His plays and performances include Electricidad, Oedipus El Rey, Mojada, Delano and Body of Faith. Luis spent over two decades in the Los Angeles poetry community and toured for ten years as a performance artist. He is a tenured professor at USC. His play anthology, The Greek Trilogy of Luis Alfaro, was just released from Methuen Press.

Luis Alfaro was a participant in Center Theatre Group’s 2018/19 L.A. Writers’ Workshop.

Luis Alfaro is a member of the newly formed CTG Creative Collective, a dozen inspiring, innovative and highly collaborative artists shaping the contours of the theatrical landscape of the future.

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