A classic and legendary tale of ancient tragic heroes is being reinvented with a modern spirit.

In the time-honored Deutsches Theater Berlin's new version of Odipus Stadt, or Oedipus State, kings and queens walk around wearing cotton vests, gray longuettes and crowns made of paperboards.

The empty stage, with no sets or props, is a bare floor made into a steep slope on which men and women run in vain to reach the top. One of the men, a powerful king, is played by a woman.