23:00, Wed 22nd – Fri 24th June 2022 at ADC Theatre
Easter May Week

Tony Harrison’s masterpiece in verse theatre, voted one of the best 100 plays of the twentieth century, ‘The Trackers of Oxyrhynchus’ brings Sophocles’ missing satyr play ‘Ichneutae’ to life. This rowdy, riotous comedy begins in the sands of Egypt as Grenfell and Hunt, two Oxford dons, become obsessed with discovering the lost play. Hunt is relegated to reading petitions to governors and receipts for loans, whilst Grenfell becomes possessed by the god Apollo, as he gets closer to finding the fragments. Harrison brings to life the story of the first lyre and the dancing, swearing, unruly satyrs who tracked it down. No sooner had they found it, they were banned by Apollo from ever producing music again. The play asks who controls history and culture? What receives orchestral recitals and what is noise pollution? Who’s allowed to tell their own tragedy?