"What if Oedipus lived in Ancient Egypt, killed the Sphinx, and became a personality cult - his face on the cover of Time, Oedipus dolls in the shops, and non-stop, fawning coverage on every TV and radio station? Yes, that's right: TV and radio in Ancient Egypt.

'The Comedy of Oedipus' is renowned Egyptian playwright Ali Salem's hilarious, surreal, but always relevant re-invisioning of Sophocles' classical tragedy in the Thebes of Ancient Egypt - only this land of Pharaohs and pyramids has popularity contests and paparazzi, too, and however hard Oedipus tries to modernise his people's thinking, they only worship him more. Ali Salem's 1970 satire not only captures the absurdities and incongruities of mass communication, it throws a strong dimension into today's Egypt and its societal and political challenges and dreams for the future."