(Chris Jones's article appeared in the Chicago Tribune, 9/14.)
When Aristotle immortalized the term hubris, he could well have been talking about Sean Graney, the experimental Chicago theater director who, this fall, decided to adapt and stage not one Sophoclean drama, but all seven at once.
In a Wicker Park basement. In three themed acts ("Honor Lost," "Honor Found" and "Honor Abandoned"). With one company of actors. Using a soundtrack composed entirely of songs by Bruce Springsteen, taken from his album "The River" and performed live by the actors.
The setting for the whole shebang is a kind of warped hospital emergency room, with the swinging entry doors functioning as an equivalent to the famous central doors in the Theatre of Dionysus. And did I mention the chorus is represented by a pair of cynical nurses, who've seen it all and stitched up it all?