Steven Berkoff’s Oedipus Rex romp is brought to the Catalan stage in a racy and super-entertaining production directed by Josep Maria Mestres. Featuring a breath-taking performance by Pablo Derqui, Com Els Grecs is Joan Sellent’s patient translation of Berkoff’s verbose play Greek.

An actor* and a playwright, Berkoff is one of the bad boys of 1980s British theatre and film. Here, he takes great – if self-indulgent – delight in delivering Sophocles’ well-known story in an eloquent, lascivious poetry. The English name to the play also suggests the expression, ‘It’s all Greek to me!’ referring to something difficult to understand. 

The story itself is relatively simple, and draws on gender stereotypes (mother/lover) made iconic by Sophocles via Sigmund Freud. The brilliance of Greek is in its linguistic prowess, and in this exuberant production there is a farcical and even sensual quality, making for a more engaging portrayal of Berkoff’s crude vision of human relationships. 

Eddy is a young man growing up in a depraved and dangerous part of the British capital as Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher desecrates the nation. He is surrounded by racists, drunks and the threat of IRA terrorist attacks. The plague of Sophocles’ play is a morally stagnant affair of emotionless interaction, chemical additives and petty capitalism. Eddy escapes from his roots, only to fall deeper into them thanks to a chance encounter with his real parents in a ‘greasy spoon‘ café.   

*Berkoff, born in the East End of London to a Jewish family, rose to fame as an actor who played a string of villains, including General Orlov in the James Bond film, Octopussy.