HEEELLPP! any ideas on how to transform oedipus/arms and the man/macbeth/mother courage into a modern play??

Question

i was thinking of doing oedipus like...a senator is having trouble controllling crime in his district,and then he goes to a fortune teller to seek answers b/c he's really supertitious and whatnot, so then blah blah i don't know where to go from there w/the whole prophecy thing...ahhhh helllp any ideas are welcome

okay nono instead of fortune teller-- a zoltar machine!(in that case, it'd be set in the 80s right..since i dont' think those exist now)..or, should i use like one of those answering orbs u find at toys and us? anyway, so the senator's father, a long time ago, ...went to a fortune teller/i don't know, whatever tell the future thing they had bakc in the 60s...and it told him the oedipus prophecy, so he put his son up for adoption..um, then, the son (senator) killed this guy in self defense because the guy was trying to rob him, but he didn't know it's his dad, who went all poor and was a bum. so he died, and then the senator fell in love with a woman (his mom, not knowing), creating the whole ashton-demi effect...(which is why i'm questioning the zoltar machine b/c it's not really modern)..and then when he goes to ask the zoltar/orb how he can fix the crime, and the answer is the real corruption lies in the senate (aka the senator)...does hta tmake sense???

Answer 1

It seems to me that you have a bit of a problem with your "zoltar/orb" premise.

Remember that, in the time of Sophocles/"Oedipus," people actually BELIEVED in the power of oracles to speak prophetically. So, if you want to move the play into a modern setting (and there's nothing wrong with that!), you have to find a vehicle that's equally credible in OUR day and age. You know what I mean? People might PLAY with a "Magic 8-Ball," but they don't actually BELIEVE in those "prophecies." The prophecy in "Oedipus" carries tremendous weight. Oedipus BELIEVES in it, which is why he goes to such extraordinary lengths to avoid it.

Answer 2

And the fortune teller tells him that you can only trust with reason criminals you know. So the senator gets to know a master thief and the thief shows him the real reason he can't control the crime.
Try going on from there, maybe.

Answer 3

Not a bad initial concept, but if you ever saw Leonardo in the modernized version of "William S." most well known play, you change direction.

Steven Wolf

Answer 4

I think it's important to think of the where, then focus on the how. If you choose a location and did reaserch on it, then it might be easier to adapt the play.