Anthony Quayle -- Oedipus
Juliet Stevenson -- Antigone
Paul Copley -- Local Man
Released in 1986, Don Taylor was both the translator and director of this this production, one in the trilogy of "The Theban Plays" he produced that year. Taylor tried hard to make his translation relatable to contemporary audiences, and he strongly believed in producing them on TV so a wide audience could not only easily access and view them, but also engage in them.
The response by critics and audiences seems to have shown Taylor to have succeeded...Taylor thought that this multi camera studio production, not realistic but rather artificial, fit the plays well...A reviewer in "The Independent" remarked "the conventions of a studio-bound BBC play are probably just as stifling as those of ancient Greek theatre".
Anthony Quayle commented:
"....I had been crassly prejudiced against even reading Sophocles all my life - grossly, stupidly. But having gone through the experience now - to answer your question how it will come over on television, how will it be received — I would have thought that if people could overcome the sort of idiot prejudice I had, if they would only overcome it....I can’t believe that they won’t be totally hooked. Absolutely....It’s the most absorbing story. The most wonderful, wonderful stories."
Taylor also produced for TV an "Iphigenia at Aulis" in 1990, but, alas, I cannot locate my video copy of it.. Not to mention the terrific "Orestia" from 1979 (with Helen Mirren, Denis Quilley, Diana Rigg, Anton Lesser, and so on) I once had...If anyone can spare a copy of any of these productions - let me know!!
