A Particle of Dread

Description

From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Buried Child- an extraordinary modern-day interpretation of Oedipus Rex. In his daring new play, Sam Shepard looks to one of the most famous narratives in history-Oedipus Rex-and recasts it as a modern thriller. In this telling, Oedipus, King of Thebes, prophesized to kill his father and marry his mother, alternates between his classical identity and that of contemporary "Otto." His wife (and true mother), Jocasta, is also called Jocelyn, and his antagonist (and true father) is split into three characters, Laius, Larry, and Langos. Acting as our Greek chorus are two present-day policemen from the American West, who are determined to get to the bottom of this murder case. Dazzlingly inventive, ringing with the timelessness of myth, A Particle of Dread is an unforgettable work that grapples with questions of storytelling and destiny-the narratives that we pass down, and how they shape our lives. It is a play that lingers in the mind long after we finish the last scene.

Sam Shepard is the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of more than forty-five plays. As an actor, he has appeared in more than thirty films, and received an Oscar nomination in 1984 for The Right Stuff. He was a finalist for the W. H. Smith Literary Award for his story collection Great Dream of Heaven. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, received the Gold Medal for Drama from the Academy, and has been inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame.

"Compelling. . . . Filter[s] the Greek myth through the unsettling, maverick mind of Shepard's open-road Southwest." -Newsday "Pure Shepard. . . . A noir thriller with touches of Grand Guignol gore and a sprinkling of surreal humor." -The New York Post "Steeped in blood and horror and passion. . . . There are poetic passages that can chill and excite." -The Huffington Post