Black soul and Greek legends
Oedipus sings the blues “The Gospel at Colonus” at the Getty Villa by Bondo Wyszpolski Whatever else one may think about “The Gospel at Colonus,” the reinterpretation of “Oedipus at Colonus,” it’s hard to deny that this is an innovative production. Furthermore — and it’s being performed through Sept. 30 at the outdoor amphitheater in the Getty Villa — it brings to mind some of the other creative offerings that the venue has presented over the years, one each fall now for 17 years, such as “The Haunted House Party,” based on Plautus, “Mojada: A Medea in Los Angeles,” based on Euripides, and “Peace,” by Aristophanes, as rejiggered by Culture Clash. Some of these renditions work better than others. “The Gospel at Colonus,” which was created in 1983 by Lee Breuer, falls somewhere in between. While we still have the original outline of the play, in which Oedipus the King, who learned that he’d murdered his father and fathered children on his mother, is wandering blindly, literally and figuratively, led by his daughter (and, ahem, sister) Antigone. They come to a sacred grove, hoping to rest, but are told to skedaddle when the Chorus learns who they are. But Oedipus calls for King…
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