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It’s election night in Robert Icke’s “Oedipus,” a modern retelling of Sophocles’ “Oedipus the King” that must be the buzziest, if not the chicest, Broadway offering of the fall season.

The production, a prestigious London import that opened at Studio 54 on Thursday under Icke’s smart and sleek direction, stars a charismatic Mark Strong in the title role. His elegant and urbane Oedipus, a politician on the cusp of a momentous victory, prides himself on not playing by the old rules. A straight talker who has made transparency his calling card, he frequently veers off script in paroxysms of candor, to the chagrin of Creon (John Carroll Lynch), his brother-in-law who has been steering the campaign to what looks like a landslide victory.

But “count no mortal happy till / he has passed the final limit of his life secure from pain,” as the chorus intones at the end of Sophocles’ tragedy. There is no chorus in Icke’s version, but the sentiment holds, as Oedipus unravels the puzzle of his identity with the same relentlessness that has brought him to the brink of electoral triumph.

Anne Reid, left, and Olivia Reis in “Oedipus.”

(Julieta Cervantes)

A birther conspiracy has been raised by his political opponent, and Oedipus, speaking impromptu to reporters on-screen at the start of the play, promises to release his birth certificate and put an end to the controversy. What’s more, he vows to reopen an investigation into the death of Laius, the former leader who died 34 years ago under circumstances that have allowed rumor and innuendo to fester.

Oedipus calls himself Laius’ “successor, the inheritor of his legacy,” and in true Sophoclean fashion he speaks more than he knows. Jocasta (Lesley Manville in top form), Oedipus’ wife, was married to Laius, and so Oedipus is occupying his predecessor’s place in more ways than one.

In Sophocles’ play, Oedipus confronts a plague that has been laying waste to Thebes. In Icke’s drama, which had its premiere in Amsterdam in 2018, the pathogen is political. The civic body has fallen ill. Oedipus sees himself as an answer to the demagogic manipulation that has wrought havoc. The water is poisoned, economic inequality is out of control and immigrants have become an easy target. Sound familiar?

Icke’s Oedipus has an Obama-level of confidence in reason and reasonableness. His direct, pragmatic approach has seduced voters, but has it deluded him into thinking that he has all the answers? Oedipus is an ingenious problem solver. Puzzles entice his keen intellect, but he will have to learn the difference between a paradox and a riddle.

Mark Strong, left, and Samuel Brewer in “Oedipus.”

(Julieta Cervantes)

His daughter, Antigone (Olivia Reis), a scholar who has returned for her father’s big night, ventures to make the distinction: “One’s got a solution — one’s just something you have to live with?” But Oedipus is in no mood for academic hairsplitting.

A countdown clock marks the time until the election results will be announced. That hour, as audiences familiar with the original tragedy already know, is when Oedipus will discover his true identity.

Merope (Anne Reid), Oedipus’ mother, has unexpectedly turned up at campaign headquarters needing to speak to her son. Oedipus fears it has something to do with his dying father, but she tells him she just needs a few minutes alone with him. Thinking he has everything under control, he keeps putting her off, not knowing that she has come to warn him about revealing his birth certificate to the public.

The handling of this plot device, with the canny veteran Reid wandering in and out of the drama like an informational time bomb, is a little clumsy. There’s a prattling aspect to Icke’s delaying tactics. His “Oedipus” is more prose than poetry. The family dynamics are well drawn, though a tad overdone.

Mark Strong and the cast of “Oedipus.”

(Julieta Cervantes)

Reid’s Merope and Reis’ Antigone, ferocious in their different ways, refuse to play second fiddle to Manville’s Jocasta when it comes to Oedipus’ affections. Manville, who won an Olivier Award for her performance in “Oedipus,” delivers a performance as sublimely seething as her Oscar-nominated turn in “Phantom Thread.” Endowed with a formidable hauteur, her Jocasta acts graciously, but with an unmistakable note of condescension. As Oedipus’ wife, she assumes sexual pride of place, which only exacerbates tensions with Merope and Antigone.

Oedipus’ sons, Polyneices (James Wilbraham) and Eteocles (Jordan Scowen) are given personal backstories, but there is only so much domestic conflict that can be encompassed in a production that runs just under two hours without interruption. And Polyneices being gay and Eteocles being something of a philander would be of more interest in an “Oedipus” limited series.

When Sophocles’ tragedy is done right, it should resemble a mass more than a morality tale. Oedipus’ story has a ceremonial quality. The limits of human understanding are probed as a sacrificial figure challenges the inscrutable order of the universe. Icke, who views classics through a modern lens (“Hamlet,” “1984”), is perhaps more alert to the sociology than the metaphysics of the tragedy.

Oedipus’ flaws are writ large in his rash, heated dealings with anyone who stands in his way. Icke transforms Creon into a middle-of-the-road political strategist (embodied by Lynch with a combination of arrogance and long-suffering patience) and blind Teiresias (a stark Samuel Brewer) into a mendicant psychic too pathetic to be a pariah.

Mark Strong and Lesley Manville in “Oedipus.”

(Julieta Cervantes)

But Oedipus’ strengths — the keenness of his mind, his heroic commitment to truth and transparency — mustn’t be overlooked. Strong, who won an Olivier Award for his performance in Ivo van Hove’s revival of Arthur Miller’s “A View From the Bridge,” exposes the boyish vulnerability within the sophisticated politician in his sympathetically beguiling portrayal.

Wojciech Dziedzic’s costumes remake the protagonist into a modern European man. Yet true to his Ancient Greek lineage, this Oedipus is nothing if not paradoxical, suavely enjoying his privilege while brandishing his egalitarian views.

The production takes place on a fishbowl office set, designed by Hildegard Bechtler with a clinical and wholly contemporary austerity. The furnishings are removed as the election night draws to its conclusion, leaving no place for the characters to hide from the unwelcome knowledge that will upend their lives.

What do they discover? That everything they thought they understood about themselves was built on a lie. For all his brilliance, Oedipus was unable to outrun his fate, which in Icke’s version has less to do with the gods and more to do with animal instincts and social forces.

When Oedipus and Jocasta learn who they are to each other, passion rushes in before shame calls them to account. Freud wouldn’t be shocked. But it’s not the psychosexual dimension of Icke’s drama that is most memorable.

The ending, impeded by a retrospective coda, diminishes the full cathartic impact. But what we’re left with is the astute understanding of a special kind of hubris that afflicts the more talented politicians — those who believe they have the answers to society’s problems without recognizing the ignorance that is our common lot.

Recent imagery indicates that China is progressing with work on a new aircraft carrier, its fourth, which is expected by many sources to introduce nuclear propulsion. A new detail that is now visible of the makings of the ship’s hull structure would appear to directly support this. The development comes just a week after the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) commissioned its first domestically produced carrier, the Fujian. Meanwhile, there are increasing reports that Beijing may also still be working on at least one more conventionally powered carrier, too.

Imagery of the new carrier, commonly referred to as the Type 004, shows the vessel taking shape at Dalian shipyard in China’s Liaoning province. Visible now is what looks to be a reactor containment structure, which would be a key indicator of its propulsion system. Certainly, the structure is broadly similar to that which is found in U.S. nuclear-powered supercarriers, and there is a general consensus that what we can see here is related to the future installation of a nuclear reactor. However, there remains the possibility that this could be some other test ship or potentially a test module. It could also be a case of this feature looking like it exists for one purpose, but it ends up being for another, although that seems less unlikely.

Renderings related to the Type 004 design that have emerged in the past have shown similarities to the U.S. Navy’s Ford class, as well as France’s future New Generation Aircraft Carrier, both of which are nuclear-powered.

In its latest assessment of Chinese military power, the Pentagon doesn’t explicitly mention a nuclear-powered carrier, but does note that China’s “next generation of carriers” will be characterized by “greater endurance,” which “will increase the striking power of a potential PLAN carrier battle group when deployed to areas beyond the PRC’s immediate periphery.”

In March of this year, Yuan Huazhi, political commissar for the PLAN, confirmed that construction of a fourth carrier had begun, but declined to answer whether it would be nuclear-powered.

Almost exactly a year ago, evidence emerged that China had constructed a land-based prototype nuclear reactor suitable for a large surface warship. The so-called Dragon Might project is located at a mountain site outside the city of Leshan, in Sichuan province.

The shift to nuclear power for China’s fourth carrier is hugely significant.

Nuclear propulsion will give the Type 004 effectively unlimited range. It will also help meet the power-generation requirements of ever-improving sensors and other mission systems. A nuclear-powered supercarrier would go a long way toward closing the technical gap with the U.S. Navy, and would see China join France as the only other nation operating a nuclear-powered flattop.

Previous satellite imagery confirmed that construction work on the carrier was underway in Dalian before May 2024, when a module, a section of the flight deck, first appeared in satellite imagery.

Apparently evident in the module were trenches for catapult tracks, suggesting that the Type 004 will have two waist catapults, in addition to the two bow catapults. This would match the arrangement of the Nimitz and Ford classes and would add an extra catapult compared with China’s third carrier, the Type 003 Fujian, which has a single catapult in the waist position.

In other respects, too, the Type 004 is expected to be an overall more advanced design than Liaoning and Shandong, which are by now well established with the PLAN fleet, as well as the Fujian.

Like Fujian — and in contrast to the two previous carriers — the Type 004 will be equipped to launch aircraft via catapults. The earlier Shandong and the Liaoning are both short takeoff but arrested recovery, or STOBAR, types with prominent ‘ski jump’ takeoff ramps. Catapults offer numerous advantages, especially when it comes to launching aircraft at higher gross weights, which translates to larger fuel and ordnance loads. They can also generally accommodate a wider array of aircraft types, too. This includes larger and slower designs, like the KJ-600 carrier-based airborne early warning and control aircraft, as well as smaller ones, such as drones.

Like the Fujian, the Type 004 will presumably be equipped with an advanced electromagnetic aircraft launch system (EMALS), a type of equipment otherwise only in use with the U.S. Navy.

As well as the aforementioned KJ-600, the Type 004’s air wing will likely include the J-35 stealth fighter, supported by advanced developments of the J-15 multirole fighter, including an electronic warfare variant. The carrier is also likely to embark various drones, such as navalized versions of the GJ-11 uncrewed combat aerial vehicle (UCAV), plus helicopters.

Intriguingly, however, China is reportedly also working in parallel on another new carrier, this one being conventionally powered.

Unconfirmed reports suggest that, in addition to the Type 004 at Dalian, China is poised to start working on a conventionally powered carrier at Jiangnan in Shanghai. This location would make sense inasmuch as this was the yard that built the Fujian. If these reports are correct, the finished product would likely be an improved Type 003 design.

Via Chaos314159/SDF:

“The latest Sentinel satellite imagery suggests that Jiangnan is cleaning a platform outside the dock, raising questions about whether this indicates the start of construction on the so-called Type 003A aircraft carrier.”

Does anyone know more? 🤨🤔 pic.twitter.com/sCSduadhM0

— @Rupprecht_A (@RupprechtDeino) November 11, 2025

Considering China’s huge shipbuilding capacity, it might well make sense to pursue two distinct new-generation carrier designs. An improved Type 003 — which some observers have begun to dub Type 003A — would offer the advantages of a proven design and lower costs, while the more ambitious Type 004 would be more expensive and higher risk.

The model below depicts a follow-on conventionally powered carrier, with the pennant number CV-19, but the source is unknown, and it may or may not be official. Notably, however, the island superstructure has major similarities with that seen on the large-scale, land-based aircraft carrier test facility in Wuhan.

There’s also an argument that China doesn’t necessarily need nuclear-powered carriers for many of its missions. While a nuclear-powered carrier would be a huge advantage for sustained blue-water operations across the globe, for contingencies closer to home, such as in the Taiwan Strait, and even in the disputed South China Sea, a force of conventionally powered flattops is still highly relevant. Conventionally powered carriers have the added advantage that they can be built more quickly and fielded in greater numbers given a set budget, although they are more dependent on a steady supply train, which can be vulnerable in a time of conflict. For its part, even a nuclear-powered carrier still requires a steady supply of other supplies, including fuel for its air wing and for its escorts.

At the same time, it should be noted that China is also working to introduce a number of very large big-deck amphibious assault ships, referred to as the Type 076. Each will feature at least one electromagnetic catapult that is expected to be primarily used to launch drones, as you can read more about here. Again, these would appear to be tailor-made for missions directed against Taiwan, as well as for power projection in the South China Sea.

Continued construction work on what is increasingly likely to be a nuclear-powered carrier, and the possibility of another type of conventional flattop in the works, highlight China’s high ambitions as a naval power and the resources they are willing to invest to achieve their maritime vision. While these developments are significant, it should also be recalled that, for the time being, the PLAN’s fleet of three conventionally powered carriers is still vastly outmatched by the U.S. Navy’s 11 active nuclear-powered supercarriers. Nevertheless, the gap is growing smaller at what seems like an increasing pace.

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ATLANTA — JJ Redick was already preaching one type of Japanese philosophy, harping to his team about the concept of “kaizen” to improve each day. Off the court, the head coach found inspiration in another Japanese phrase.

Lakers players and coaches have used PechaKucha presentations to facilitate team bonding this season. The slideshows, which come from the Japanese word for chitchat, could be a secret to the team’s hot start as the Lakers (7-2) have won five consecutive games entering a five-game road that starts Saturday in Atlanta at 5 p.m. PST against the Hawks.

The Lakers have pieced together one of the NBA’s most efficient offenses despite injuries keeping LeBron James, Austin Reaves and Luka Doncic in and out of the lineup, relying on a strong team bond that’s developed quickly through an even faster form of communication.

PechaKucha presentations are traditionally 20 slides, each with a photo. The speaker has 20 seconds to explain each slide for a total presentation time of 6 minutes and 40 seconds.

The Lakers’ version consists of five slides: where you’re from; favorite basketball memory; person, event or thing that has impacted your life; your non-basketball happy place; and dealer’s choice.

“A lot of times most of the interactions you’ll have with your teammates is on the basketball court,” forward Jake LaRavia said. “So it’s good to just kind of either learn some stuff about them outside of basketball, like hobbies and stuff like that, where they come from. And that just helps you kind of understand who the person is a little bit better.”

Assistant coach Scott Brooks started his presentation with a photo of a walnut, symbolizing the walnut farm he worked on during the weekends to help his family make ends meet. LaRavia showed a photo of his driveway as the origin of his basketball journey. Doncic spoke about how his daughter Gabriela changed his life.

One coach and one player present, and then they each nominate the next coach or player to go. With about half of the players and coaches left, Redick said he’s already noticing the holdouts actively planning their presentations before their nominations.

“We’re just constantly encouraging and empowering our guys to get connected,” Redick said. “I believe if you’re connected off the floor, you’re connected on the floor. You need buy-in to that. I’m not trying to take credit for my staff here. It’s the guys on the team, they’re bought into that.”

Doncic, for one, isn’t sold. He deadpanned that he doesn’t think the exercise helps.

Just the fact that Doncic made the joke meant it’s working.

Settled after last season’s jarring trade, the 26-year-old’s personality has started to emerge among his teammates. He is a sarcastic jokester who expresses love for his teammates by threading passes to them through pinhole-sized gaps in the defense and then trash talking them right soon after.

Lakers coach JJ Redick, with injured forward LeBron James next to him, questions a call along with guard Marcus Smart during the game against the Spurs on Wednesday.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Doncic’s smiling antics, whether he’s trying to sit on Austin Reaves’ lap on the sideline or swishing halfcourt shots in a contest with Reaves, Maxi Kleber and staff members, show just how connected the superstar feels to the team.

“Honestly, the feeling is I’m enjoying, very much, playing with these guys,” Doncic said. “AR [Reaves] can’t play. We’re still missing LeBron. So this team has a big potential. But everybody who steps on court, gives maximum, man, everybody. So it’s very enjoyable to play.”

Reaves is present on the road trip but will miss a third consecutive game Saturday. The Lakers ruled him out after practice Friday as his right groin injury progressed to a strain after previously being categorized simply as soreness.

James did not make the trip to Atlanta. He progressed to on-court basketball activities this week after missing four weeks because of a sciatica on his right side. He was playing one-on-one with coaches, Redick said. A stint with the South Bay Lakers is on the table, but no decision has been made.

The NBA’s all-time leading scorer hasn’t played a single minute for the Lakers yet. Reaves, averaging 31.1 points and 9.3 assists, has missed the last two wins, and Doncic has played in only half of the games. But the Lakers are still fifth in the NBA in offensive rating.

“It shows how professional we are,” guard Marcus Smart said of the team’s chemistry despite constantly changing personnel. “I think a lot of people, especially who aren’t in the brotherhood, they forget that you build a relationship with guys, and then one guy or a couple guys, you get traded and you got to rebuild another one. You don’t understand how tough that is, how much of a toll that takes.”

Just as Smart spoke, Doncic appeared behind the group of reporters, clapping loudly. Then Doncic made sure to put on the record that he would beat Smart at a team-building competition that night. Both smiled as they walked away.