"OEDIPUS ROCKS! This Oedipus is the essence of great drama."
- THE BOSTON GLOBE

"Woodruff, Ziporyn, and the cast and crew have shaped a 90-minute tragedy that goes beyond histrionics. That doesn't make it any less dramatic: This "Oedipus" is the essence of great drama."
Ed Siegel, The Boston Globe
"Oedipus Rocks"
May 21, 2004

"Oedipus rules at the ART!
Ziporyn’s ravishingly discordant music and Saar Magal’s sinuous waves of movement, it takes that lemon of most contemporary productions, the stilted and action-stopping contributions of the Chorus, and makes a lemonade so piercing on the tongue that you almost forgive said tongue for being Ancient Greek, thereby forcing your eye to the supertitles...

For the amplified heterophonic score, Ziporyn, who is head of music and theater arts at MIT and a member of Bang on a Can All-Stars, melds Western and Eastern instruments and styles, mixing melodious — and sometimes screeching — cello, bass, keyboards, and guitar with Chinese and Javanese percussion. The rich-toned part singing is similarly contrasted with Indonesian vocalist I Nyoman Catra’s arresting but more abrasive sound. Catra also epitomizes the theater piece’s subtle choreography, augmenting a solo stasimon, for example, by slow-motion movement that shifts between balance and imbalance. Elsewhere, the Chorus moves sideways across the stage like a tight, swaying knot. "

Caroline Clay, The Boston Phoenix
"Oedipus Rules at the ART"
May 27, 2004

Townonline - Oedipus Next: Needham's Stephanie Roth-Haberle helps ART spin the Greek tragedy, by Alexander Stevens

Boston Globe - Two strong voices and a classic drama - by Louise Kenned

From the American Repertory Theater