Review: We know the story of Oedipus, but not like this Three Bone production

Frequent patrons of Three Bone Theatre have grown accustomed to feeling like they’re sitting on the set of one of their productions, but I didn’t expect anything like “Oedipus El Rey.”

I’ll admit I jumped at one point as voices calling to the center erupted from behind my head without noticing the moving actors. One fight scene got so close to me that my instincts began to kick in that I should help break it up, thus ruining the play for everyone.

And I got a bit of secondhand embarrassment as the sex scene began to start. Now, it wasn’t because I was nervous about the act (well, maybe it’s normal to feel weird about the sex scene in Oedipus El Rey) but more that it was so close and all eyes were pointed in my direction.

It’s my fault. I should get out more and see more plays. Maybe grow up a bit. But one thing that grew up in this production of playwright Luis Alfaro’s Chicano trilogy that the theatre began two years ago was Three Bone.

From the productions I have seen, “Oedipus El Rey” might be the most audacious story they’ve told and left me in awe of what they’ve accomplished in putting on Alfaro’s trilogy for the last three seasons.

It almost didn’t happen at all. Last May, the Trump Administration called for the elimination of the NEA, which began telling arts groups around the country that their grants were being revoked.

Across the Carolinas, at least $800,000 was rescinded by the NEA, according to arts advocacy groups in North Carolina and South Carolina. That included $13,000 left over from a three-year, $20,000 grant that Three Bone was awarded for their productions of Alfaro’s trilogy.

The grant was awarded to Three Bone to put on this re-telling of Greek tragedies through the lens of modern Latin and Chicano life. In the case of “Oedipus El Rey,” it was a re-telling of the Oedipus Rex tale, but moved to 1990s Los Angeles and a story of the system stifling growth and dreams in an L.A. barrio.

The story of “Oedipus El Rey” at Three Bone

The story remains mostly the same: It is foretold by the gods that King Laius (Christian Serna), this time as a gang member in Los Angeles, will be killed by the hands of his own son.

The king takes measures to make that prophecy fail and sends his newborn son Oedipus (Kelvin Jones-Fernandez) with his right-hand man Tiresias (Luis Medina) to be killed. Tiresias doesn’t follow through with it and Oedipus is given a second chance at life.

Only this second chance runs through youth reformatories and eventually the California State Prison – outside life is but a pipe dream.

Oedipus eventually reaches his release date around the same time that Laius feels his grip slipping. His wife Jocasta (Stacy Fernandez), still shaken from the loss of her child, grows more cold towards him as his abuse and rejection remains.

Most know the rest of the story: Oedipus gets out and runs into Laius without knowing his relationship to him. Laius is killed in a fight with Oedipus, and he heads on, eventually meeting Jocasta, falling in love and marrying her before the seers reveal the truth to him.

Where “El Rey” differs from “Rex” is the setting, but also the situation. Hispanic people make up nearly 30% of the incarcerated population in the United States. According to a report by the League of United Latin American Citizens, 56% of Latinos in the U.S. have come in contact with the criminal justice system whether that is by firsthand experience or that of a family member or friend.

Is it the gods that set the path forward for Oedipus, or was he caught in a system designed to see him fail?

The play sticks to its roots.

A higher power has destined Oedipus to kill his father, marry his mother and blind himself for his sins. “El Rey” supposes if that path wasn’t designed by something more sinister than maniacal gods above: the United States criminal justice system.

Oedipus tries to find work that isn’t gang activity, a promise he made to his father in prison before he left. He goes for a variety of jobs that immediately label him as a convict, and he’s offered lower hours, less pay or just outright rejected.

He follows his father’s instructions and goes to Las Vegas first, but work dries up faster than a downpour there, and he moves to Los Angeles against Tiresias’ words.

He runs into the same path in L.A. Long commutes that lead to firings and a lack of steady income pushes him back into the life he swore to his father that he would avoid. It was less a destiny of the gods and more the only choice for an ex-convict attempting to make a life for himself.

The resources to help him survive are few and far between.

What is the path to the “American Dream” in a country that touts the highest incarceration rate in the world and where 1 in 6 Latino men are sent to prison compared to 1 in 17 white men?

The path ahead is not working harder and good things will come, but trying to avoid being profiled by the color of your skin in order to follow a path that somewhat resembles what others have to achieve the dream.

Oedipus is a brash, arrogant leader, which makes him a target among the barrio but also a concern to others as he rejects the tradition and doctrine that has informed their kings before him. But it’s an understandable path for someone who doesn’t know anything else outside the incarceration system and has finally clawed his way into a semblance of power that he can have for his own.

It may not be the right path, but it’s the only path in front of him, and he’s got to take it for whatever it’s worth.

Feeling challenged by ‘Oedipus El Rey’

Sure, I felt uncomfortable as the production moved around me. I felt exposed within that world and worried one wrong move might disrupt the whole process. That’s not something I feel very often in life, but that isn’t the case for a lot of folks around me. It’s fine for me to feel out of place just for a little while, it’s the least I can do.

“Oedipus El Rey” challenges you as much as the system it eviscerates in its words. It’s one worth getting out of your comfort zone and making every effort to go see.

“Oedipus El Rey” will be at The Arts Factory near Johnson C. Smith University until May 24. Tickets can be purchased here. Shows take place on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sundays. Thursday, Friday and Saturday shows at 8 p.m. Sunday shows at 2 p.m. and 1 p.m.