The Famous Mr. “Oedipus”

By MICHAEL AUSHENKER | Pali Life Editor

When it comes to the “quagmire of Greek theater, it’s very easy for actors to self-indulge in their own particular role, but if you’re trying to serve a common cause of urgency, you can get on with it,” said Martin Rayner, a part-time Palisadian currently in the Westside production of “Oedipus Machina” at the [aptly named] Odyssey Ensemble Theatre.

Directed by Ron Sossi, “Oedipus Machina,” starring Rayner as Creon, opposite Joshua Coleman Wolf’s titular sinner, is a re-telling of Sophocles’ Oedipus drama, as streamlined in 2005 by playwright Ellen McLaughlin. Portraying Creon, who is “very poorly treated by Oedipus,” Rayner attempts to make him “very real and dynamic,” he said.

In June, the Los Angeles Times commended the production’s “fine cast” and deemed Sossi’s contemporary, “ahistorical staging” as “an eyeful, whimsically mixing design elements of ancient civilizations with sci-fi gadgetry.”

But it was thanks to Sigmund Freud that Sossi found Rayner as it was while originating the role of the titular pioneer psychoanalyst in “Freud’s Last Session” (later starring “Taxi” star Judd Hirsch) for the Barrington Stage Company in the Berkshires in Massachusetts that Rayner came to know Sossi. Some 850 performances of “Freud’s” later, they’ve reunited to deliver “Oedipus Machina” to a Westside audience.

“From the outset, Martin seemed absolutely right for the part, as he has a certain elegance and precisio of technique which well-suited for the role of Creon,” said Sossi, smitten with his choice of Rayner as Oedipus’ brother-in-law. “Even his British accent adds to the feeling of the social stature of the character.” Over the years, Rayner has enjoyed a steady diet of theatrical, cinematic and episodic television roles. Playing a bit part in the 1982 feature comedy “Victor/Victoria,” Rayner recalled his experience working with filmmaker Blake Edwards as “extraordinary. It was a wonderful group. I was just nobody and they made me feel welcome.

“I had a scene with [actress and Edwards’ wife] Julie Andrews and James Garner. I was speaking French. He asked me to translate [lines] into French. He had no idea what I was saying,” Rayner continued, laughing.

While living in Dallas in the mid-1980s, Rayner, then part of a local acting troupe, boarded the television show “Dallas” for a couple episodes and “got to know Priscilla Presley quite well. She’s not known for being very talkative.”

Back in 2005, he met the voice of Bart Simpson while working on the animated TV show “Mike, Lu and Og.” Rayner played Alfred, Og’s father, on the Cartoon Network series, which ran from 1999 to 2001.

“Nancy Cartwright came up to me after the first recording and said, ‘Oh ,you’re from the theater, aren’t you?” he recalled. “She said, ‘Oh, no, there’s nobody like that here. Sit next to me and I’ll teach you what I know.”

Voiceover is one thing, but there is nothing like standing before an audience.

“The big challenge [of doing live theater] is that you don’t get to re-take things. There’s nothing like it except perhaps stand-up comedy. To be in front of a live audience and to take that risk and to make something of it, some magic they desperately need in their lives. It’s urgent. A 90-minute plane ride with no intermission.”

“Another strong asset is Martin’s ability to handle the semi poetic and ‘smart’ language of the script,” Sossi said. “He was a joy to rehearse with, as he endlessly brought in and pursued numerous ideas about the character, some we stayed with and some we abandoned as part of a very fruitful collaboration.”

Dividing his time between Los Angeles and New York, the actor ended up off Porto Marina Way about 15 years ago.

“It was where I ran on the beach, near Gladstone’s. I used to look up and say, I can never live there but I ended up with a little studio,” he said.

First and foremost for the actor is the Palisades’ inherent natural splendor.

“The proximity to the ocean is wonderful,” said the actor, who keeps fit running to Marina del Rey and back. “The people are so friendly. It’s very much more relaxed than Hollywood. You feel that you’re out of the madness.”

Ultimately, even though stage work along the Great White Way often pulls him back to Manhattan, Rayner tries to spend as much time as possible along Will Rogers State Beach. He finds the environment rife with inspiration, and he loves how, in Pacific Palisades, “you don’t have to try too hard to find creative people.”

In fact, one of the girls working at Vons, a former Pixar employee, is now animating a project for Rayner.

“Wherever you go, you talk to people. It’s amazing how many things come from that,” he said.

“Oedipus Machina” runs through Aug. 2 at the Odyssey Theatre Ensemble, 2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd., W. Los Angeles. Tickets: $34. (310) 477-2055; odysseytheatre.com.