Woolly Mammoth’s production of Oedipus el Rey makes the epic myth feel new again, and when you’re working with source material dating all the way back to 429 B.C., that’s no small feat. But take a snappy and soulful script from Luis Alfaro, a modernized setting in the world of California gangs which feels organic rather than forced and Andres Munar’s enigmatic take on the unlikely tragic hero, and what results is an Oedipus that feels fresh, even profound.

As the title suggests, the world of Oedipus el Rey is largely centered around the Hispanic community — the dialogue shifts seamlessly between English and slang-peppered Spanish, and Oedipus’s eventual kingdom is an L.A.-area barrio where Mexican gangs seem to run the show, but old traditions and the Gods really call the shots. It’s a rude awakening for Oedipus, who, fresh out of prison, kills the man he doesn’t know to be his father, and ascends to power while bedding and wedding the woman he will later discover to be his mother, Jocasta (Romi Diaz).

Diaz and Munar have a chemistry that’s hot enough to be unsettling, and playwright Alfaro has made their union a complex one, one where the balance of power is always in question. Diaz plays mentor to a lover who is both childlike and masculine, naively confident about his ability to lead.