Three plays at Court Double bill

Press, 29 June 1983, Page 15

Three plays at Court Double bill

Scandal in high places. Naughty “goings on” in Parliament. Members of Parliament caught in indiscreet situations with a young lady by the name of Miss Gotobed. Tom Stoppard’s satiric comedy “Dirty Linen” about a select committee set up to investigate allegations of immoral behaviour by M.P.s will open at the Court on Saturday. Stoppard raises the question of whether such committees can objectively investigate its peer group. He is also concerned with the role of the press in society, its responsibility to the public, and the need to respect the private lives of public figures. “Dirty Linen” is a short play of about an hour’s playing time, as it was first written for a lunchtime theatre audience. In Court Theatre’s double bill programme it is preceded by the classical tragedy of “Oedipus.”

A tragedy and a farce? A classical masterpiece and a modern satire? Sophocles and Stoppard? It seems an odd combination, but there are precedents. In Greek theatre, the day devoted to tragedy at the Festival of Dionysus ended with a comedy or a bawdy piece of nonsense as light relief. In more recent times, Sir Laurence Olivier presented a double bill of “Oedipus” followed by Sheridan’s “The Critic.” “Oedipus” is a “whodunnit,” which explores the protagonist’s growth towards self-knowledge. It tells the story of the terrible prophecy of Oedipus who killed his father, and married his mother, and the judgment of the gods that followed. The Court Theatre has commissioned Dorothy Buchanan to compose music for the choruses of “Oedipus” and the incidental “soundscape.”