Oedipus El Rey in the “Big D”

Here’s a photo of the Dallas Theater Center where we began rehearsals for Luis Alfaro’s “Oedipus El Rey.” It’s a fantastic building. That little black square at the top left is the balcony just outside of our rehearsal room. From there we can see a great view of the arts district and towards the end of the day amazing sunsets like this:

We have been working for two days and already we have raised questions about Fate versus Destiny, discussed the fights between Man and God, shared personal stories of language, family, healing and fears…. and we’ve only made it to page 30.

Our director, Kevin Moriarty, has the most surprising energy and wit, it’s contagious. He can spin an idea from intimate to global and back again while the rest of us chime in and soon we are off in a whirlwind of connections and discovery. I have always liked table work, that window of time where we dissect the words of the playwright and infuse character with personal stories.

Just before we break for the holiday we get to move into the space, a rare luxury in theatre. We don’t have to deal with the taped floors in the rehearsal space and then the transition to the stage.

As I write this post I am awaiting my turn for fight rehearsal. Right now two actors are working on the fight between Oedipus and Laius, it’s a knife fight and it’s looking fierce! I love watching fight choreographers, they are so effortless and graceful.

More to come from this Texas adventure! Thanks for reading 🙂