Never before performed or heard in the UK, Burgess's Oedipus the King is a robust and powerful version of Sophocles' classic text. The drama includes an invented language that Burgess created especially for the 1972 production of the piece at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, USA, which has been archived in the International Anthony Burgess Foundation archive. This broadcast will be the first time it has been spoken or heard in over forty years.

Christopher Eccleston, a keen Burgess fan, who used to run a market stall in the same area of Manchester that Burgess grew up in, stars as Oedipus; Don Warrington as Creon, Adjoa Andoh as Jocasta and Fiona Shaw as Tiresias, the ancient blind prophet who was born both man and woman.

The music was composed for the original theatre production by Obie Award-winning and Grammy Award-nominated composer of the show, Stanley Silverman. Stanley has worked with Arthur Miller, Pierre Boulez, James Taylor, Elton John, Sting and with legendary New York theatre maker Richard Foreman.
The BBC Philharmonic and Manchester-based Kantos Chamber Choir perform the music, conducted by Clark Rundell.

Oedipus starts the drama as a powerful king, who has risen from an impoverished newcomer to Thebes by freeing the land from the curse of the monstrous Sphinx, solving a seemingly simple yet impenetrable riddle. Over the course of the play his world unravels. A new blight is on the land and he is determined to rescue his people by rooting out the cause.


Co-producers Polly Thomas and Eloise Whitmore
Production Coordinator Sarah Kenny
Executive Producer Joby Waldman

Writer Anthony Burgess
Composer Stanley Silverman

Music performed by BBC Philharmonic and Kantos Chamber Choir, conducted by Clark Rundell.
With thanks to Andrew Biswell and the International Anthony Burgess Foundation.
A Naked Production for BBC Radio 3