Save the Best for Last - Oedipus, The Wheel, and Edinburgh Castle

My last day in Edinburgh was by far the best day I had since I arrived. I saw my two final shows which were both amazing. First, I saw Oedipus by Stephen Berkoff (after Sophocles) at Pleasance Courtyard. This performance had some really great direction that changed the way that Greek Tragedies are performed. There were no acts to speak of and the play moved from scene to scene smoothly without large transitions. There were about 8 – 10 men who acted as a traditional Greek Chorus. However, rather than just reinforcing the plot with the text, they used movement to convey their emotion. There was a lot of moving in slow motion (similar to Suzuki) and posing in different positions during speeches. I thought it would get old after a while but it was done so well, it never did.

My next show, The Wheel was by far the weirdest and best show that I saw. The basis of the show is a woman whose home is invaded by soldiers in Spain during World War II. They find a man who they think was trading with the enemy and they banish him from the country. However, his little girl is found and in desperation, Beatriz (the main character) hopes to run after her father and deliver his little girl. However, Beatriz does not particularly like children and she finds herself in a difficult situation trying to comfort the girl. As the war quickly develops and she is left with another child who has been badly burned and has a fever. In attempts to save both of them, she goes finds a doctor who tricks them and the girl bites her in self-defense. The doctor beats her with a stick but she doesn’t flinch and is not visibly hurt. The doctor assumes that she is mystical and begs her to “take back the curse”. As the three characters travel, the girl performs more mystical acts and eventually gets the reputation for being able to conduct miracles. Spoiler alert: the girl begins to perform “evil” actions such as starting fires and killing people. The more violence that she sees during the war, the more evil she becomes. The play begins to focus on her eyes and she eventually scratches them until they bleed (the second show of the day where the main character gouges their eyes out). In the end, Beatriz sees a mirage of the first scene. She exclaims that she is in hell if she has to relieve the journey with the girl. Thus, the wheel.

It was a beautiful day (the best we had in Edinburgh) so I decided to spend the rest of my day at the Edinburgh Castle. Once you get into the castle, the view is AMAZING. (You can click on the pictures to make them bigger). I loved just walking around and taking in my surroundings. I did all the museums inside the Castle and saw the Scottish Crown Jewels! I also ran into David Hasselhoff walking around the castle, no big deal. He is here doing something with the BBC. 

On top of the castle!

View from the top!

More of Edinburgh.

Off to London!