
Can Movie Stars Handle Greek Classics? London Is Finding Out.
King Oedipus, played by the movie star Rami Malek — best known for his Oscar-winning performance in 'Bohemian Rhapsody' — wants to figure out who killed his predecessor, Laius, in hopes that solving the mystery will bring an end to the drought. In the process, he stumbles upon a series of revelations that bear out the truth of the Oracle's infamous prediction: that he is destined to kill his father and sleep with his mother.
In this production, running through March 29, the story is set in a featureless, vaguely postapocalyptic landscape and told through a blend of drama and dance. (The Israeli choreographer Hofesh Shechter shares the directorial credit with the Old Vic's artistic director, Matthew Warchus.) Between scenes, a chorus throws beautifully unsettling shapes to a soundtrack of moody electronic beats and pounding drums.
The dancers' twitchy, convulsive movements and supplicatory body language evoke the plight of a suffering populace, but once the truth is out and the gods appeased, the rain comes and the chorus moves with unburdened grace under a glorious drizzle. (Set design is by Rae Smith, lighting by Tom Visser.)
Malek's assertive drawl and blithe, can-do rhetoric carry hints of President Trump. ('Whatever the Oracle gives us. … I can work with that!') And Indira Varma brings a suitably regal poise to the role of Jocasta, who was long ago forced by Laius to abandon her baby. That child was Oedipus himself; he was rescued, adopted and went on to marry Jocasta.
But Ella Hickson's script, adapted freely from Sophocles's original, is thin and occasionally clunky, and Malek struggles to breathe life into it. His anguish simply doesn't convince. When he learns that the mother of his children is actually his own mother, he summons only the rueful demeanor of someone who narrowly missed a subway train. This 'Oedipus' is visually arresting, but weak theater.
In a scheduling oddity worthy of London's uneven bus service, The Old Vic's production was the second 'Oedipus' running in the city in the last few weeks. Robert Icke's adaptation, which recently closed at Wyndham's Theater, had originally been scheduled to run in 2020, but was postponed because of the pandemic.
In contrast to Hickson's staging, Icke situated Sophocles' tale in a recognizably contemporary political milieu: It's election night, and the title character (Mark Strong) is anticipating a landslide victory. The action unfolds in a campaign room strewed with pizza boxes and placards; in the foreground, a large digital clock ticks an ominous countdown. (The set is by Hildegard Bechtler.)
This Oedipus is a picture of sensitive, evolved masculinity. But his commitment to the truth undoes him when he becomes the subject of a birtherist smear. Rather than sweep it under the rug, he insists on clearing things up — with devastating consequences.
Strong's statuesque aspect and plaintive bearing befit the tragic hero. With his tall, lean frame and shaven head, he is more silhouette than man. Lesley Manville's Jocasta dotes aggressively, suggesting a sublimated maternal impulse, or perhaps even unconscious knowledge of the terrible truth. In a risqué scene in which Oedipus performs cunnilingus on Jocasta under her skirt, her moans of pleasure — 'oh baby, baby, baby' — are an exquisitely ironic touch.
Conceived in the wake of President Trump's 2016 election victory, Icke's 'Oedipus' doubles as a maudlin comment on the travails of center-left parties. As of 2025, it hasn't exactly dated. But the show is best enjoyed as pure theater. The protagonist's sheer obliviousness, and apparent decency, accentuate the pathos: 'Nobody slips anything past me,' Oedipus brags to his son — but the audience knows his whole existence has been a lie. Tension builds as the clock counts down and the pieces of back story slot into place like some cruel game of Tetris.
While Malek toils as Oedipus at the Old Vic, another big-screen celebrity is making her West End debut in a lesser-spotted Sophocles play. Brie Larson, of 'Room' fame and, more recently, Disney's 'The Marvels,' plays the title character in 'Elektra,' plotting revenge after her mother, Clytemnestra (Stockard Channing), murders her father, Agamemnon.
This production, in a new translation by Anne Carson, runs at the Duke of York's Theater through April 12. In it, a crew-cut Larson stalks the stage in a Bikini Kill vest and ripped jeans, declaiming into a hand-held mic, and a six-strong chorus moves the story along in bursts of harmonious song
Whenever Larson has to say the word 'no,' she sings it, rather than speaking — a motif that emphasizes Elektra's implacable defiance. Her refusal to accept her mother's lover Aegisthus (Greg Hicks), out of respect for her father's memory, has resulted in her being ostracized from the family: In contrast to Elektra's punky get-up, the other members of the household appear in opulent fur coats. (The costumes are by Doey Lüthi.)
Aside from the denouement — in which Elektra's long-lost brother Orestes (Patrick Vaill) returns to deliver Aegisthus's comeuppance — the play is largely uneventful. To offset this, the show's director, Daniel Fish — whose 'Oklahoma' was a hit on and Off Broadway before a favorable London transfer — gives the audience a mishmash of embellishments to puzzle over.
A blimp hangs above the revolving stage. A gun on a tripod douses the performers with spray paint. Incongruous snatches of news audio play during a pivotal scene. Why?
Channing's glibly nonchalant Clytemnestra feels apposite, and the verbal sparring between mother and daughter provides a welcome sprinkling of mirth. But the abstracted, bloodless deliveries of the other actors are less than engaging. Larson, for all her energy, has a weirdly perfunctory, one-note intensity.
Larson hadn't trodden the boards in over a decade before taking on this role; Malek, similarly, hasn't been onstage since early in his career. Reflecting on this, alongside the recent disappointment of Sigourney Weaver's London 'Tempest,' we might draw the following conclusions: first, that theater acting and screen acting are not the same thing, and that someone might excel at one but not the other; and second, that something is amiss when producers are routinely enticing theatergoers with stardust, only to shortchange them.
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Cosmopolitan
4 hours ago
- Cosmopolitan
'He's like Puss in Boots': A detailed timeline of Liam and Noel Gallagher's explosive decades-long feud
It's not unusual for siblings to quarrel, but no pair of siblings has had such public arguments quite like Liam and Noel Gallagher. The two leading members of the band Oasis are finally burying the hatchet after 16 years to reunite on tour, which kicks off tonight (4 July). The duo formed the iconic band all the way back in the early 1990s and became one of Britain's best musical acts, but despite their mega success, after years of feuding on and off stage the pair finally split and Oasis was over for good in 2009. Well that was until last year, when the band announced they would be returning for a 41 date tour this summer. But before we start searching for resale tickets and looking up the set list for the new tour, what actually caused the brothers' many arguments? Here's a full timeline of their feud and all the bizarre insults they've thrown at each other over the years. In the early 1990s Liam Gallagher approached a band then known as The Rain and joined, but suggested changing the name to Oasis. Noel then joined later on after watching the band perform in Manchester. During a now famous interview with NME, the article revealed the extensive way the brothers would argue and traded intense insults at each other. A 14 minute single called 'Wibbling Rivalry' was then released soon after. In the summer of 1994 Oasis were touring America, and were performing one night in Los Angeles. During the performance Liam sniped at Noel during a song and then hit him over the head with a tambourine before making fun of the audience and storming off stage. Noel then quit the band that day before rejoining a few days later. One of the brothers' most notable feud moments happened in 1995 when they were recording their second album (What's The Story) Morning Glory? The album recording was taking place in Wales, and at one point Liam invited a bunch of people he had just met at the pub to see the band in action. Noel and Liam then argued about this, which led to Noel allegedly hitting Liam with a cricket bat that happened to be in the studio. Liam later recalled of the incident: "The whole studio got smashed to pieces, everything just got blitzed to bits. It was probably me not giving a f**k and him trying to write f**king 'Bohemian Rhapsody,' and me going, 'Bollocks, let's have it.'' The cricket bat was later auctioned off. Following the biggest gig of their careers so far playing to 250,000 fans at Knebworth Park, the band were set record an episode of MTV Unplugged. Liam dropped out citing laryngitis as the cause. However, Liam then showed up at Royal Festival Hall where the recording was taking place and went on the balcony where he was seen smoking, drinking and heckling Noel. Liam then tried to get onstage at which point Noel told him to "piss off". The band were then due to go on tour in America at which point Liam pulled out again but then turned up three days in. The tour was then cancelled two weeks later. The band were due to play a show in Barcelona, however had to cancel the gig due to the drummer Alan White injuring his arm. The band then went and drank, and at some point in the evening it was alleged Liam had questioned the paternity of Noel's daughter Anaïs, who he shares with ex-wife Meg Matthews. The moment reportedly led to an altercation between the brothers and Noel quitting the rest of the band's tour. Despite their many fall outs the band carried on, but was not without its problems. During a show in 2005, Liam walked off the stage mid-way through 'Champagne Supernova'. Though still together in the band at this point, the pair were well used to saying negative things about each other in interview.s In early 2009 Noel was reported to have told Q Magazine that his brother Liam is "the angriest man you'll ever meet. He's like a man with a fork in a world of soup". 10 years later, Liam responded to the insult by posting a video of himself on Twitter eating soup with a fork and thanking for buying tickets to his shows. While performing in Europe, it was one fateful performance in Paris that caused the band to finally breakup for good. Noel alleged the pair had physically fought before starting their world tour and they were now travelling separately to the shows. In 2015, he told Esquire of the state the pair were in: "The last six months were f***ing awful, it was excruciating. "Me and Liam had a massive, massive, massive fistfight three weeks before the world tour started, and fights like that in the past would always be easy to rectify but for some reason I wasn't going to let it go this time. I was just like, 'F**k this ****.' And there was an atmosphere all the way around the world." Noel also went onto say he was frustrated with Liam's approach to the band, claiming Liam was using the band's profile to sell parkas. "Then he [Liam] starts his own clothing label and starts dedicating songs to it on stage and I'm like, 'Really, is this what it's come to?' He's modelling parkas on stage which you could buy on his website. And it's just like, 'This is not for me,'" he explained. Ahead of the show in Paris, it was alleged Liam had started welding a guitar at Noel like an axe. In 2015, Noel said of the alleged incident: "[Liam] goes out the dressing room, for whatever reason, he went to his own dressing room, and he came back with a guitar, and he started wielding it like an axe, and I'm not f**king kidding." Following this Noel decided to quit the band for good. He revealed his decision on Oasis' website, explaining: "It's with some sadness and great relief to tell you that I quit Oasis tonight. People will write and say what they like, but I simply could not go on working with Liam a day longer." Shortly after the band's breakup, Oasis were awarded a BRIT award for the best album of the last 30 years for (What's the Story) Morning Glory? Liam was the only one there to collect the award and went onto thank all the members of the band apart from Noel. Following the breakdown of Oasis, both brothers formed new groups. Liam's is Beady Eye, while Noel's is High Flying Birds, which his brother then decided to nickname 'High Flying Turds'. He then went onto say his brother looked like he belonged in the boyband Westlife. Speaking to Q magazine he said: "He blew it. He could have said, I was a dick, he was a dick, that's life, it's 2011, here's my f**king record. "Listen, our Kid's a mouthy f**k too. He said we had a year to come up with a band name and came up with Beady Eye. "He had three and came up with the High Flying Turds. I don't know who dressed him but he looks like something out of Westlife." Later on that year Liam was asked if he'd ever reunite the band with his brother, to which he replied: "I'd rather eat my own s**t than be in a band with him again. He's a miserable little f**k … If the fans want it, though, I'd do it.' Over the years it appears the brothers' interactions with each other are brief, however, Liam does take to trolling Noel on social media, frequently posting pictures of his sibling and captioning them "potato". Following the horrific attack at the Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, Liam performed on stage at the One Love Manchester concert to honour the victims. He then tweeted about Noel's lack of appearance, saying: "Noel's out of the f**king country weren't we all love get on a f**king plane and play your tunes for the kids you sad f**k." Noel then responded in an interview with The Sunday Times, claiming he wasn't asked to perform. "Young Mancunians, young music fans, were slaughtered, and he, twice, takes it somewhere to be about him. He needs to see somebody," he said in response. In July 2019, Noel's wife Sara MacDonald was asked if she would watch Liam's performance at Glastonbury, to which she declined and described Liam as a: "fat t**t doing his tribute act." Following this Noel then claimed Liam had sent a 'threatening' message to Noel's daughter Anaïs. Noel shared a screenshot of the alleged message which said: "Tell your step mam to be very careful." Noel went onto write on his own social media about the screenshot: "So you're sending threatening messages via my teenage daughter now are you? You always were good at intimidating women though eh." Liam went onto apologise publicly saying: "My sincere apologies to my beautiful mum Peggy and my lovely niece Anaïs for getting caught up in all of this childish behaviour I love you both dearly." While appearing on The Jonathan Ross Show, Noel denies claims he said no to a £100m reunion. Speaking on the show Noel said: "There isn't £100m in the music business, right, between all of us … If anybody wants to offer me £100m now, I'll say it now, I'll do it. I'll do it for £100m.' Liam then responded on Twitter saying he would do it for free. During yet another interview when he was asked about the reunion between himself and his brother and the band, Noel said it wouldn't happen and compared Liam to Puss in Boots from Shrek. He told Rolling Stone Music Now podcast: "Well, I know for a fact he doesn't want it either, but he likes to paint this picture of, you know, this little f**king guy who's sitting with his suitcase packed by the door, you know, like the little f**king cat from fucking Shrek, you know, the little fucking Spanish cat with these big f**king teary eyes. 'I'm [gonna] go and do it now for you fans. I love you.' It's like, well, fucking call me then. And he hasn't called me. And until he does, it's f**king going nowhere.' After 15 years since they last performed together on stage as Oasis, Liam and Noel announce the band is getting back together for a worldwide tour in 2025. Heading to the tour? Check out the set list here.


Newsweek
7 hours ago
- Newsweek
Dog 'Literally Cries' While Begging for Treat—and There's a Good Reason
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Internet viewers have been awed by a dog "manipulating" his owners into giving him a treat as he cried real tears while begging. Bruno the boxer dog is 6 years old, and has been with his owner, Hannah Fouts, 26, since he was 5 months old, when she rescued him and they became "inseparable." "He has gone to college with me, moved to a new state with me, and everything in between," Fouts, originally from Pennsylvania but now living in North Carolina, told Newsweek. Having such a close bond with her dog would already make it difficult for Fouts to say no to him—but he has a special quirk that makes it practically impossible not to give him what he wants. That quirk? Bruno cries when he is begging for food. "His hobbies include staring into your soul when you open the fridge; giving side-eye that deserves its own Oscar; and, of course, his excellent tear performance," Fouts said. And this performance has gone viral, after Fouts shared a clip to her TikTok account @bruntheboxer on July 2 showing Bruno begging for a slice of banana—with tears leaking from his eyes. In the video, viewed more than 11.5 million times, a man eats a banana while Bruno stands beside him, giving puppy-dog eyes. And as he licks his lips and stares at the treat, tears come rolling down his cheeks—until, finally, Bruno is given a piece of banana. From left: Bruno watches the banana held by a man, with tears rolling down the dog's cheeks. From left: Bruno watches the banana held by a man, with tears rolling down the dog's cheeks. TikTok @bruntheboxer "How are we supposed to say no when he literally cries," Fouts wrote over the video, adding in the caption: "He was gonna get a piece either way but the tears really sold it." TikTok users had a huge reaction to the clip, liking it more than 2.3 million times, as one described it as the "manipulation final boss." "I've never seen a dog actually cry … he'd get his way every time with me," another posted, as a third commented: "I didn't know dogs could do that omg [oh my God]." Many concerned commenters urged Fouts to take Bruno to the vet; one wrote, "it's a result of an eye infection or something else," and another added: "He has an eye infection. Dogs do not cry." And as Fouts told Newsweek, Bruno's heart-renching tears are, in fact, the result of an unusual condition, having been diagnosed with Keratoconjunctivitis sicca (KCS), also known as dry eye. KCS causes decreased tear production in dogs. Tears are needed for lubrication, comfort and health of a dog's eyes, and symptoms of KCS can range from redness and swelling to vision impairment and blindness, according to a vet-reviewed report from PetMD. Fouts tried every medication available, but when nothing worked, Bruno underwent a surgery that rerouted part of his saliva gland into his eyes, "to work as a natural substitute for tears to keep the eyes moist." From left: Bruno the boxer dog stands outside; and chews toy. From left: Bruno the boxer dog stands outside; and chews toy. TikTok @bruntheboxer The surgery worked, but it came with an interesting side effect: "When he smells food, his saliva glands start working really well, causing him to produce a lot of saliva and 'cry' tears," Fouts said. This is an expected side effect of the surgery, but, in Bruno's case, things got even stranger—if he gets excited or hungry, he would produce so much saliva in his eyes that he would temporarily lose his sight. "After he settles down, he gets his vision back, but he has run into a fair amount of walls and accidentally walked into many pools," Fouts said. She added that he "belongs in the vet textbooks" because it appears this side effect is uniquely Bruno's. As Fouts put it: "Long story short, he took puppy eyes to a whole other level!" Do you have funny and adorable videos or pictures of your pet you want to share? Send them to life@ with some details about your best friend, and they could appear in our Pet of the Week lineup.


Chicago Tribune
7 hours ago
- Chicago Tribune
Donna Vickroy: Tales of giants await passengers on Chicago's architecture river cruise
— Carl Sandburg, 'Chicago' Chicago is not just a big city. It's a big deal. It is a story of strength, vision, talent and grit that you truly have to see to appreciate. Thankfully, you can. Each summer, thousands climb aboard the Chicago Architecture Foundation's River Cruise ( and glide past skyscrapers towering on the footholds of determination and ingenuity. (Full disclosure: I have been on the foundation's River Cruise more than 15 times. It's become one of our annual summer things to do in the city.) The 90-minute cruise showcases Chicago's architecture and rich history while it glides along all three branches of the Chicago River, providing a 360-degree view of the city's skyline. Each time I disembark, I swear I've learned something new about architecture — how patios can preserve sightlines, why the Merchandise Mart has its own ZIP code, how engineers keep the wind from knocking it all down — as well as about this robust, beautiful city with a gritty, storied past and a beckoning future. On a recent Saturday afternoon, our guide opened his tour with a nod to Carl Sandburg, the Galesburg-born, Pulitzer Prize-winning Illinois poet laureate. He ended the fact- and folklore-laden presentation with a harmonica solo. In between, he pointed out the stars of the show, examples of Gothic Revival, Spanish Colonial Revival, Contemporary and Art Deco architecture. He explained the characteristics of each and their place along Chicago's skyline. With cameos from geography, geology, engineering and folklore, the city's story comes to life. Did you know that on the very site where Mrs. O'Leary's cow was 'falsely accused' of kicking over a lantern and starting the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, there now stands a fire training academy, our guide asks. 'In literature, we call that irony,' he said. In Chicago-ese, we call it resilience. From Bertrand Goldberg's cylindrical Marina Towers to Jeanne Gang's wavy Aqua Tower to the commanding Willis skyscraper, which forever will be referred to by locals as the 'Sears Tower,' the breadth of design runs parallel to the city's own far-reaching story of form, function and vision. The cruise, which launches at Michigan Avenue and East Wacker Drive, was the brainchild of Bob Irving, a Chicago Architecture Foundation docent from the class of 1971, said Caroline Duda, senior director of volunteer services for the CAF. 'Much like all of the tours we offer, Bob saw a need to showcase the architecture along the river,' Duda said. In 1983, the late Irving had 'the wherewithal to see the river's value as an educational tool. He created a route on a sailboat, starting at Navy Pier,' she said. Irving had arranged for the bridge lifts to go up as the boat passed. 'But,' Duda added, 'he forgot to arrange to have them go up when he came back.' In 1993, the CAF partnered with Chicago's First Lady Cruises and the route was changed slightly, but the purpose remained the same. 'Our goal is to showcase Chicago's architecture,' Duda said. 'You get see so much along the river from our boats. It builds a sense of community when you share part of us, when we share our stories with guests.' The tour welcomes some 300,000 guests annually, said Duda, who estimates that, over the years, millions have come along for the ride. While most of the passengers hail from outside Cook County, a decent percentage are like me, locals proud to call this toddlin' town home. The tours are run by docents who, Duda said, 'have a passion for sharing' the architecture and story of Chicago. The 150 volunteers come from all walks of life — a former FBI agent, a mapmaker, a food scientist – but share a love for the city, a love for lifelong learning and an ease being in front of an audience, she said. All go through a rigorous 100-hour training regimen. 'Basically. It's a graduate level architecture course,' Duda said. 'All get six weeks of studying the fundamentals of architecture. Then an additional five weeks devoted to learning the river.' On four or five practice cruises, they learn how to build their spiel. There's also a library of videos that introduce them to the work of other docents and allow them to practice at home, she said. Timing is key, she added. So is remembering that, when facing a crowd, your left is the audience's right. Though there are mandatory talking points along the route, each docent is free to personalize his or her approach. They are free to 'geek out,' she said. The docents are not paid, and there's a no-tip policy. So, you may wonder, what's in it for them? They do it for glory, Duda said. 'Passion drives them. They want you to love Chicago and its architecture as much as they do,' she said. Oh, she said, 'and you get 250 people to listen to you, a captive audience, for 90 minutes. 'Because, how often does that happen?'