Mixing Greek drama with Elvis Presley’s greatest hits, “Oedipus the King, Mama!” took the stage this month as a playful collision of ancient tragedy and rock ‘n’ roll spectacle.
The Getty Villa Museum and the Troubadour Theater Company teamed up for the 19th annual Villa Outdoor Classical Theater production with “Oedipus the King, Mama!,” the Company’s third production in the outdoor theater. The mash-up of Sophocles’ timeless classic and the iconic music of Elvis Presley is a “buoyant experience for a tragedy” – one that is lively, whimsical and outrageous at times, said Matt Walker, the artistic director of the Company who also plays Oedipus.
“This is an Oedipus that you haven’t seen before,” Walker said. “Over the last 30 years, doing this kind of branded theater using the music incorporating an icon or iconography – we developed that out in this production, especially the way the music serves the story.”
Known for its unique adaptations of timeless stories, the Troubadour Theater Company is celebrating its 30th anniversary with a revival of a show first staged at the Getty’s Villa Theater Lab in 2009. Set against the dramatic backdrop of the recently reopened Getty Villa amphitheater, the production blends Greek tragedy with live rock ‘n’ roll music, plot twists and Elvis-inspired antics.
Being a Los Angeles theater company has allowed the group to form relationships with local performance venues – such the museum – where they have held shows for years. Beth Kennedy, who plays Jocasta and is one of the show’s producers, said working with the Getty Villa can be a complex but incredibly rewarding process.
“As a theater person in LA, I have done everything – from producing a show where there are more people on stage than in the audience to something like with the Getty Villa where they have so much support for us, so many resources, all of these departments,” Kennedy said. “Producing a show with the Getty Villa is a gift and also a great learning experience.”
Kennedy said the original production of “Oedipus the King, Mama!” was created during a nine-day intensive, a concentrated period of rehearsal designed to develop a performance in a short time. Walker cut down the original text of “Oedipus the King” with the rest of the creatives, each adding their own areas of expertise and ideas to create the adaptation. Walker said the result of this fast-paced process was a version that both honors the original tragedy and pokes fun at it, leaning into improvisation to make an experiential production. He added that this method turned the show into a different interpretation of the story.
“The storytelling is deconstructed a bit, but the essence of the play withstands our bombardment,” he said. “It’s a very fun, engaging experience so far, and we’re only midway through the run.”
That sense of balance comes from the script as well as the performers themselves, who bring their own instincts and humor into the mix, Kennedy said. Each actor has room to explore their character in unconventional ways, turning even the most serious roles into opportunities for surprise and reinvention, she added.
Rick Batalla, who plays Creon and is one of the Company’s founding members, said that the collaborative nature of the adaptation process allowed the cast to experiment with tone and interpretation, ensuring the final production balances respect for the source material with a playful, satirical edge.
“Our approach is to take the air – the importance – out of these things while still maintaining the through line of what it’s supposed to be,” Batalla said. “When it comes to me playing Creon, the approach I take is to look at it from an angle that maybe somebody else hasn’t looked at before.”
Kennedy said Walker allows freedom in every aspect of the production, particularly with the designers. Kennedy added that she and fellow actors also had a say in the show’s creation, especially with influence over their costumes. The current performance is made up of a mix of new and returning cast members from the original production. She said this combination of perspectives influencing the material has been fun and influential on the production.
“There are a few of us who built it from nothing with a blank canvas, and then it’s been so great to have all this new energy and fresh eyeballs on it from all the other great cast members and designers,” Kennedy said. “It can’t help but transform and to change.”
Batalla also said that, for this production, with the added time to prepare, they took the opportunity to slow down and pay more attention to the story itself, as opposed to the more nonsensical additions, allowing for more understanding and appreciation.
One of the biggest changes to the 2009 production comes from performing the show in an outdoor space, meaning the live band cannot be as loud or amplified as usual, which Batalla said they proudly make fun of in the show. Unlike a traditionally indoor theater, the open-air setting means the cast and crew must adapt to not only the acoustic limitations but also the environment itself, Walker said. From ambient noise to unexpected interruptions, Walker added that the unpredictability of the space became part of the show’s character.
One night of “Oedipus the King, Mama!,” a high-speed pursuit on the Pacific Coast Highway led to helicopters constantly circling the venue, Walker said, which they incorporated into the show. As a director and performer, he added that he is always wondering what they should expect each night.
Kennedy said that holding the performance in the Getty Villa’s ancient theater replica, particularly given the source material, is a rare treat. Reciting ancient lines written by Sophocles while in the Getty Villa amphitheater elevates the text, she said, helping the story resonate even more with both the audience and actors.
“We’ve really tried to continue to make sure under all of this goofiness that the story is coming through,” she said. “The Getty Villa really helps us too. It resonates because of what it looks like and what it is as a museum, what it stands for – it makes us elevate and try to bring this antiquity to life like in its original form.”
