EDIPUS REX.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1378, 2 March 1912, Page 6

EDIPUS REX.

'A REMARKABLE EVENT. Most of those who were fortunate enough to witness tho production 'of "Oedipus Rex" at Covont Garden, London, recently, and thus to have lived through two hours of extreme emotional tension mado not only endurable but enjoyable through the power of supreme art, left tho houso with a deep sense of humility (writes a contributor in an English paper). Whatever this unforgettable performance may have owed to tho ingenuity of so great a master of stagecraft as Profossor Max Rcinhardt has.proved himself to be; whatever may have been duo to the splendid elocution of Mr. Martin Harvey and his supporters, tho fact remains that even to-day, twenty-three centuries after the first production of Sophocles' "Oedipus," , this tragedy remains not only unrivalled hut unapproached.

Tho story of King Oedipus is bo well known that it need scarcely bo recapitulated. The tragic fatb, tho malign destiny, that make the wise and bravo King of Thebes unwittingly murder his own father and wed his widowed mother, in fulfilment of an oracle; his subsequent despair and remorso culminating in selfinflicted blindness; the whole sequence of events, in which the noble humanß are but puppets in the hands of a power as cruel as it is relentless—<ill this would be positively unbearable on the stago were it not for the sublimo art of tho dramatist who knew how to clotho unspeakable horror in a garment of, olassic beauty. Parricide, suicide, self-mutilation, anguish of tho soul, the bitter injustice of wholly undeserved suffering, omotion, and deeds that would tear at the spectator's heart-strings and cause intense pain, are here presented with such purity of form, noble ryhythm, perfect construction, classic serenity, that tho marvellous beauty of tho form triumphs over the horrors of the dramatic material. Mr. Martin Harvey's impersonation of (Edipus must ensure his position among tho greatest tragedians of tho British stage. Tho close of tho performance was followed by an extraordinary outburst of enthusiasm. Again and again the copper gates had to be opened amid the cheers and tumultuous applause of tho delighted audience, who would not leave until Mr. Martin Harvey had acknowledged in a speech of thanks the compliment paid to him and to Professor Rcinhardt. Many ordinary customs of the theatre wero set asido in the presentation of the famous Greek tragedy. In tho first placo the floor of the stalls and the stage wero on the same level, and the majority of the players entered and loft by tho gangways on the floor of the auditorium itself.

No drop-curtain was used. The audience on entering tlio theatro found tho scono set—a great palace of black stone, occupying tho whole of tho space under tho proscenium arch. The Illumination of (he area where the tragedy was enacted was effected by powerful limo and search lights installed above the tiers of boxes. While the central figures moved about in this vivid light, spectral, whiterobed men and women, awed spectators of Thebes, crept in tho grey shadows around, while from further in tho distance came tho murmur of a crowd and tho mournful song of tho chorus.'

The tragedy was played to its end without interval or interruption, and occupied just over two hours in performance.

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