Open to Public
The Tiresias Project
Free Event
Please RSVP through the link provided. The event Zoom link will be distributed via email, and available to registered attendees starting 2 days prior to the event.
Sat, Oct 28.2023
Virtual Event
The Tiresias ProjectIn this offering to the Ancestral Institute, Theater of War Productions will present Ato Blankson-Wood (When They See Us, Detroit, Hamlet) and Jumaane Williams (NYC Public Advocate) performing a live scene from Sophocles’ 2,500-year-old play Oedipus the King to help frame a powerful discussion about timeless themes, such as arrogant leadership, ignored prophecy, intergenerational trauma, and the human capacity for denial. The scene will feature the blind-seer Tiresias, an ancient Greek shaman who gained the gift of prophecy after transitioning gender. In the scene, Tiresias faces off with an arrogant king (Oedipus), who publicly dismisses his gifts and ignores his prophecy about the source of a plague that is ravaging the archaic city of Thebes. Following the scene, a group of Ancestral Institute members will offer their immediate gut responses to the scene, and the session will culminate in a guided audience discussion about how the myth of Tiresias resonates across culture and time.
About the play
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Oedipus the King by Sophocles
Sophocles’ Oedipus the King tells the story of an overconfident ruler during the time of a great plague, who refuses to listen to trusted advisors, ignores prophecy, and—after launching an investigation—discovers that he is the source of the contagion that is ravaging his people and his land. Upon uncovering the truth about himself and his role in the disaster, the king loses nearly everything—his crown, his wife, his power, his country, his honor—and wanders off into exile, a fate worse than death in ancient Greece. Oedipus the King is a timeless story about leadership, accountability, and the challenges faced by citizens and elected officials during pandemics and plagues.
Cast Members
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Ato Blankson Wood
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Jumaane Williams
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This free, public event featured a live, dramatic reading of the “Patient Griselda” story from Boccaccio's Decameron by Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network, Fleishman is in Trouble), Maev Beaty (Beau is Afraid, Mouthpiece), and Araya Mengesha (Tiny Pretty Things, Nobody). Then, in response, Margaret Atwood performed “Impatient Grisleda,” a story that is narrated to a group of humans in quarantine by an alien that looks like an octopus. The readings of both texts was followed by immediate responses by community panelists and culminated in a guided audience discussion, facilitated by Bryan Doerries (Artistic Director, Theater of War Productions).
Co-presented by Theater of War Productions and Toronto International Festival of Authors.
This hybrid presentation took place in person at the Toronto Harbourfront Centre Theatre and on Zoom Webinar on September 30, 2023.