Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1957-01-08

of telescoping time. In the now
misty, now piercing light Of the
columned platform setting and in
the pale smoky wisps Of incense,
time vanished to let through a
timeless story.
Beyond the cameras lens lay
Thebes and a King caught in
the widest web of fate's contriv-
ing. Here is a man who has
murdered his father, married his
mother, and sired his own half
brothers and sisters.
All this he is done in complete
Innocence of his identity and now
he must retrace his steps to find
the doom that awaits so great a
sinner. yet such an unwilling
one. These are the ingredients of
literature's greatest detective
story, as Mr.. Cook said. So they
were played. step by step, in
this amazingly lucid production.
"Oedipus" is not play to be
acted in contemporary terms.
It's movement is in the con-
sciences of its multiple char
acterS. mostly in the conscience
of Oedipus, a man with kingly
majesty, a king with noble
manlinesS. To meet this de-
mand, Omnibus cameras became
X-ray equipment, looking into
the heart of the plays tragic
hero. And looking too, into the
savage designs of the gods for
a man with the pride to try to
outw;t them.
What Sophocles put inside of
Oedipus in 429 B. c., the cameras
found in Christopher Plummer's
portrait Of the plays title char
acter. His Oedipus is a man
with a nimble mind. He knows
every detail of the gods proph-
ecy for him and he has thought
to have made each detail i'm
possible Of fulfillment-until his
strategy is unmasked for the
puny manlikeness of it.
The pitch of this "Oedipus.
is as Mr.. Schneider directed it
at Catholic University several
years ago. 1t is subdued, remorse-
less. memorable. 1t deals with
trapped humanity. from Thebes'
king all the way down to its
goatherds.
A detail of the production here
and there may nave been at
fault. Chorally, this "Oedipus"
lacked the range and variety of
tone, though none Of the clarity.
that it had in the stage version
seen here several seasons ago.
But it was still Sophocles'
"Oedipus, the King" its awe
somehow EXCHANGED by aware
ness that television was bringing
it, in one performance, to more
eyes than in its entire 1885 years.
"Oedipus" on Omnibus gave
the age-old to the electronic age
on a night to remember.
4
ADDENA: Carroll Baker, whose
Baby Doll" may earn an
Academy award nomination, has
already collected a major acting
honor This is her selection
as the best supporting actress of
the year. for her performance in
Giant" The General Fed
Grafton Of Women's Club confers
the laurel. Arena Stage will
try something different on OPEN
ing night Of its next production.
THE Girl on the Via Flaminia. !"
|. This will be a 7 o'clock cur
tain: the explanation that Janu-
airy 81 is Inauguration Day and
a festival occasion. Margot
Hartman and Don Tenney will
play the leads in the Alfred
Hayes dramatization of his own
novel. THE Night of Janu-
airy Is" will be presented by the
Howard University Players on the
nights of January 9-12, inclusive
/. Curtain time is $3.50 nightly
|. Tom Harris is directing. g..
A fellowship to a promising play
wright will be offered by the
American Theater Wing in its
second annual summer work.
shop, Dennis, Mass, next sum-
mer Competitive manuscripts
should be in the hands of the
Wings judges by May 3, 1857.