New mask theater production of Oedipus the King makes Sophocles classic accessible without dumbing it down

Though he now lives in Sewanee, Tenn., John Holleman has had a big impact on the Nashville theater scene, in particular through the series of mask theater productions he mounted locally through 2007 at the Darkhorse Theater, the Parthenon and other Music City venues. Holleman's revival of an ancient art form not only awakened the performing skills of some of our town's better actors, it also afforded him opportunities to present clever, improvisation-based original plays to interested audiences, not to mention classical Greek dramas that weren't being tackled by other theater companies. Holleman now returns to Centennial Park, at the feet of the goddess Athena, with a small-cast mask production of the granddaddy of serious dramatic literature, Sophocles' Oedipus the King.

In order to deal with the logistical problems of time and distance, Holleman chose to work with actors based out of the Murfreesboro area, where rehearsals were held prior to his production's debut last weekend. The results are generally first-rate, especially for theatergoers who revel in the importance and vitality of epic drama and the classics.

With an eye toward a more populist appreciation for such fare, Holleman has efficiently scaled back the Sophocles, including removing the chorus altogether, and his ensemble of three—John Mauldin as Oedipus, Jacqueline Springfield and D. Richard Browder covering the other critical roles (Tiresias, Jocasta, etc.)—serves up impressively well-modulated but tensely melodramatic performances that relate the primally tragic tale of a king whose honest search for the truth proves his own fateful undoing.

The entire evening is but an hour in length, and the performers stop occasionally in media res to remove their masks and directly address the audience with historical background about Greek theater, its roots in religious spectacle and the function and use of masks. These informative breaks provide an interesting respite from Oedipus' tribulation, and the simple but solemn colonnaded ambience of the Parthenon works to the play's benefit, with the sole exception of the landmark's cavernous acoustical challenges, which even Holleman admits demand conscious active listening. Overall, it's a rewarding evening of theater, with the production's truncated scope yielding the essential Sophocles without overtaxing the attention span of those new to the ancient text.

Email arts@nashvillescene.com.