Unless you’re a bookworm or a theater enthusiast, Greek tragedies tend to bring up unpleasant memories of high school English class, when you had no idea what was happening because it was hard to get past the dated language of the play’s script.

But the only unpleasant part of Harrison Hilltop Theatre’s production of “Oedipus Rex” is the familiar plot line that takes its name from Freud’s Oedipus complex.

Director Steve Quartell has adapted the script, using language that resembles the formal, original English translation with enough modernization to make it accessible to today’s audience. The adaptation also weaves current events into the script, making the ancient play relevant in our time.

The play begins with a public service announcement, or PSA, resembling a political campaign commercial. In the PSA, Oedipus (Eddie Staver III) invites Thebans to join him at a town hall meeting to discuss the issues plaguing the city.

The projector screen then cuts to a cable news preview of the event, featuring our own Quadsville Mayor Melissa Coulter as a TV news personality.

When the live action begins, Oedipus continually uses the word “hope,” much like our current president, and the traditional chorus is replaced by actors seated in the audience who are concerned about their jobs and the economy. There is even a series of TV personalities analyzing the town hall meeting rather harshly after it commences, and the characters wonder how they can figure out what to do when the enemy is both no one and everyone.

All of the traditional plot lines and characters are still there, but they’ve been tweaked just enough that, if it weren’t for all the talk of oracles, you could believe it happened today.

Staver delivered a compelling performance, playing the strong-headed young leader. His best moments are when he begins to suspect that he may have exiled himself and when his true parentage is revealed.

Denise Yoder also delivers a fine portrayal of Jocasta, Queen of Thebes. While Yoder looks just barely old enough to be Staver’s mother, she executes Jocasta’s unapologetic manipulation of fate well, specifically as Yoder’s face fills with horror as Jocasta realizes she is the cause of her own downfall.

Harrison Hilltop’s production is definitely not the traditional “Oedipus Rex,” but I think Sophocles would approve since Quartell’s adaptation forces the audience to examine how they view their own leaders and the influences of the media on our perceptions of the world.