SIRACUSA
We went to Siracusa this hot weekend to see the production of Oedipus Rex at the Greek theater there. Last years production was one of the highlights of last summer, so we were looking forward to it a lot. And we were not disappointed! I swore I would bring my camera this year because I forgot it last year, but alas, it was not in my purse where it was supposed to be. So these are taken with the old camera with almost no zoom capabilities, so they are mostly far away. But click on each one, and you can see it better.
Everyone knows the story of Oedipus, how he inadvertently kills his father and marries his mother. So he is cursed, and his kingdom of Thebes is hit by a plague (hence the dead bodies all over the stage in the beginning). It was all pretty easy to follow, and our Italian is one year better, so the script in Italian that you can buy there was a cinch to follow. Once I got the main characters straightened out though, I did not even bother with the words, but settled down to enjoy the marvelous acting, dancing, costumes, lighting, music, and especially, the use of the Greek chorus. I enjoyed this aspect last year, and this year it was again terrific. The members of the chorus started interacting and piling up the bodies almost from the beginning. It was a wonderful way to set the mournful tone of the whole piece.
We had seen rave reviews in the papers that spoke of packed houses of over 10,000 nightly. But as we looked at the theater, we could not figure how they could get that many seated there. I guess maybe Friday was not a sold-out night. They did not open the upper balcony (S section) where we had bought tickets, and we had gotten there an hour early, so we got a lot closer than we might have and had seats in the shade right away. It was hot-in the high 80s by the time the sun dipped behind the far seats.
The production was very dramatic, and the special effects all worked wonderfully. The play started at 6:30, and ended before 9, so it got dark while things were going on. The last scene where Oedipus goes to hell was especially dramatic, as the lights and smoke of hell caused the perching birds in the nearby trees to wake and fly around as if it were morning.
This morning we got up early and walked to the market on the island of Ortygia. Today and yesterday were voting days in all of Italy, so we saw thousands of flyers all over the ground (Siracusa is a REAL dirty city!), and a bunch hung up like at this service station. We enjoyed the market as always, and as I write, I am eating my dinner of fresh sweet corn. Oh, is it good! I know we have told you Sicilians do not like corn on the cob, but there it was, an early treat! I bought a packet of seeds from the states and planted about half last week to see if I can grow corn here. We also went to the shrine of the crying Madonna and the Paolo Orsi museum, which had some great displays of funeral objects from the Siracusa area. On the way home, Etna was as clear as I have seen it all year, but the whole interior seemed to be on fire from grass fires now that haying is underway. We stopped at Lower Enna (Enna Bassa) and found a good trattoria for pranza. Then home again, home again, back to the other Sicilian shore.
Everyone knows the story of Oedipus, how he inadvertently kills his father and marries his mother. So he is cursed, and his kingdom of Thebes is hit by a plague (hence the dead bodies all over the stage in the beginning). It was all pretty easy to follow, and our Italian is one year better, so the script in Italian that you can buy there was a cinch to follow. Once I got the main characters straightened out though, I did not even bother with the words, but settled down to enjoy the marvelous acting, dancing, costumes, lighting, music, and especially, the use of the Greek chorus. I enjoyed this aspect last year, and this year it was again terrific. The members of the chorus started interacting and piling up the bodies almost from the beginning. It was a wonderful way to set the mournful tone of the whole piece.
We had seen rave reviews in the papers that spoke of packed houses of over 10,000 nightly. But as we looked at the theater, we could not figure how they could get that many seated there. I guess maybe Friday was not a sold-out night. They did not open the upper balcony (S section) where we had bought tickets, and we had gotten there an hour early, so we got a lot closer than we might have and had seats in the shade right away. It was hot-in the high 80s by the time the sun dipped behind the far seats.
The production was very dramatic, and the special effects all worked wonderfully. The play started at 6:30, and ended before 9, so it got dark while things were going on. The last scene where Oedipus goes to hell was especially dramatic, as the lights and smoke of hell caused the perching birds in the nearby trees to wake and fly around as if it were morning.
This morning we got up early and walked to the market on the island of Ortygia. Today and yesterday were voting days in all of Italy, so we saw thousands of flyers all over the ground (Siracusa is a REAL dirty city!), and a bunch hung up like at this service station. We enjoyed the market as always, and as I write, I am eating my dinner of fresh sweet corn. Oh, is it good! I know we have told you Sicilians do not like corn on the cob, but there it was, an early treat! I bought a packet of seeds from the states and planted about half last week to see if I can grow corn here. We also went to the shrine of the crying Madonna and the Paolo Orsi museum, which had some great displays of funeral objects from the Siracusa area. On the way home, Etna was as clear as I have seen it all year, but the whole interior seemed to be on fire from grass fires now that haying is underway. We stopped at Lower Enna (Enna Bassa) and found a good trattoria for pranza. Then home again, home again, back to the other Sicilian shore.
posted by Sicilian Mama at 7:16 PM
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