Oedipus Loves You

Pan Pan Theatre’s Oedipus Loves You is a wickedly funny and wonderfully theatrical take on the Oedipus plays of Sophocles and Seneca and their legacy, Freudian psychology. These performances – the New York debut of this Dublin-based company – are part of a highly acclaimed world tour following the premiere in 2006.

Pan Pan’s punk rock sensibility strikes a fierce chord in this savvy update of Sophocles’ classic drama of the ultimate dysfunctional family. They bring decidedly modern twists and ample humour to their explorations yet stay more true to the thrust and themes of the original then you might first think. Oedipus is still counseled by the wise Tiresias, but the sightless sage is now a Freudian analyst and ex-Glam Rocker. Sexual desire runs unchecked and tensions still seethe, but now the backdrop is the barbecue grill of Oedipus’s suburban hideaway. Then the psychodynamics are literally amplified as the characters take up rock instruments to channel their rage in live music sessions that are integral to their group family therapy.

From the breakfast table to the back garden barbecue, the seething dramatic tension is ratcheted up by Gavin Quinn’s remote-control direction and thrash metal performed live by the five actors, Ned Dennehy, Bush Moukarzel, Gina Moxley, Aoife Duffin and Dylan Tighe.