THEATRE REVIEW

AUGUST 2026 | Volume 266

 

Three anonymous actors in goblin masks telling and enacting the tragic Greek tale of Oedipus Rex. Weird, eh? But it works in its own weird way. I used those same words to describe Goblin:Macbeth, Bard’s 2023 production of the now widely popular goblin adaptations of classic plays by Rebecca Northan and Bruce Horak (https://vancouversun.com/entertainment/local-arts/theatre-review-forget-the-weird-sisters-weirder-goblins-take-over-macbeth).

In fact Goblin:Oedipus is the most all-around successful and enjoyable show of this summer’s Bard offerings.

There’s a good deal of lightheartedness and fun amid the enactment of the tragedy, from the pre-show where the goblins greet incoming audience members and recruit a dozen men to play the chorus, to the ecstatic post-show dance party. The chorus is rehearsed to respond in specific ways to various words: blood, darkness, the Sphinx, light, suffering. They are also brought centre-stage to enact the retrospective tale of the battle at the crossroads where Oedipus unwittingly killed King Laius, his father.

But the best comedy comes from the goblins’ interaction while enacting the tale. One keeps wanting to do Christmas stories. The others’ foul-mouthed interruptions and sometimes sexually explicit witty banter have Bard putting an 18+ age warning on the show’s website. The snappy and at times obviously improvised to and fro are very funny.

But at the heart of it all is Sophocles’ tragedy, powerfully conveyed amid the comedy by two of the actors. The third provides musical accompaniment on a variety of unusual instruments and vocals. The acting is remarkably fine. One goblin plays Oedipus with a gravelly voice and just the right blend of authority and hubris. The second plays all the other roles: Creon, Jocasta, Teiresias, and the servants whose testimony leads Oedipus and Jocasta to realize the shocking, terrible truth about their lives. Both performances are highly effective.

A peculiarity of the goblin plays is that neither the director’s nor actors’ names are revealed in the program. Whoever they are, they deserve high praise, as do Northan and Horak for their mind-bending concept and clever adaptation of John Murrell’s translation of Sophocles’ play.

As of September 6, only 10 performances remain. Do try to catch one.

 

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