SINGAPORE — I’m really sorry, Nikhil Chopra, but your 50-hour performance will have to be demoted to second best SIFA show I’ve seen so far. At this point, it’s The Chorus; Oedipus who’s Rex. As in Rexellent.

Hey, we’re entitled to one horribly confusing pun per festival marathon right?

Every festival I’ve covered has offered at least one goosebump moment. I didn’t get any while watching his production — because it happened right at the very end. The entire thing was a goosebump moment.

Which wasn’t what I had expected. I mean, what’s the big deal about a Greek tragedy transformed into a Korean musical with a bunch of pianos, right? Well for starters, remember how we complained about how cramped Victoria Theatre looked in Facing Goya? In this one, you’re on the stage itself, surrounding the circular wooden platform on which the entire drama takes place.

Director Seo Yae-hyung has created one very powerful piece of theatre that simply won’t let go of you. The story of the ill-fated Oedipus and his equally ill-fated wife/mother Jocasta is well-known and yet, such is the gripping quality of its staging that you’re glued to it as if watching it for the first time, cringing and wincing as the two characters march to their tragic destinies. You feel the slow realisation of the horrors they find themselves in, the anguish and self-loathing bursting from the performances of the exceptional leads Park Hae-soo and Yim Kang-hee, as hubby/son and wife/mum, respectively.

Presented as a musical, huge credit, of course, goes to composer Choe Uzong and lyricist Han Areum. The near-hypnotic quality of the verses and the majestic music performed only on pianos is relentless. The energy and pace of the piece is such that there’s very little time to actually catch your breath. The proximity of the audience to the performers also ensured a very in-your-face, in-the-moment experience.

And then there’s the chorus.

Remember how The OPEN’s Medea On Media dragged that particular Greek tragedy to the present time? For all the contemporary “razzmatazz” (as the programme booklet says) it oozes (and assuming razzmatazz and tragedy is actually an okay mix), The Chorus; Oedipus is rather old school — the verses, maybe the costume, but most importantly, the huge presence of the chorus.

It reclaims its rightful space not only in the title (equal billing at that) but in the entire flow of the play itself — collectively, an ever-shifting creature that threatens menacingly or cowers in fear. I’m not sure about the “K-pop” namedropping in the publicity materials but the choreography, guided by Jang Eun-jung, sure is tight. The deft use of chairs, the atmospheric transformations into a chariot, a ship, a flock of birds — who needs a set when you’ve got a living, breathing all-purpose chorus?

The Chorus; Oedipus is sold out. But if you can get your hands on a ticket, you won’t regret it. The last show is tonight, 8pm, at Victoria Theatre. For more info on the festival, visit https://sifa.sg/