Oedipus Rex

Oedipus Rex, essentially, is a tale of people trying to deny their fate, but end up having their destinies control their lives. The story is shrouded in woe, and ends in tragedy.
While in class, the story of Oedipus was presented to us in three different ways; as the classic near-original tale as told by Sophocles, a more modern and rather humorous re-telling, and the dark and surreal opera by Stravinsky. Each version that I have read of this play has been astronomically different, each one appealing to me differently.
Having read the play before, I had a reasonable understudying of what it was about. Re-reading it didn't  heal me to understand it anymore than I already did, since there was no real in-depth analysis of the text. While in high school, several weeks were spent on the text and on the meanings of the characters and their actions.
The rewrites of the play were interesting to say the least, and they did offer a different view of the scenes, making the text seem slightly easier to understand. They were mainly, from my perspective, written as a form of humor rather than to accurately portray the meaning of the original text. for some scenes it was clear where the authors switched and the written piece was uncoordinated between the authors.
The opera however, was a different spectacle in itself. Although there was no new information given about Oedipus Rex, the way the opera was portrayed was indeed beautiful. The performance was filled with high amounts of energy. The way that the performance was dark and mysterious was also a pleasant change. While the story has tragedy laced through it, it didn't really seem too dark as it was being presented in the written format. The opera was very creepy, in a beautiful way, with the contrasts of colors and the stage. The environment of the opera was something out of my nightmares. In a good way. I could only hope to create such an intense display. Truthfully, while the opera was captivating to watch with the technicalities, the actual story was near unchanged and I did zone out at parts. The high energy of Jocasta's death and at Oedipus' self-mutilation were painfully captivating, and brought me back to the intensity of the opera.
The combination of the music, the stage, the costuming, and the wonderful acting brought together a wonderful performance that I will hopefully watch with closer detail in the near future.