In this bold reimagining of the classic Greek tragedy Oedipus Rex, Oscar Brown Jr. transposes the ancient tale to the turbulent Reconstruction Era in the American South. Reverend Rex introduces REX EDISON, a fair-skinned Negro preacher and rising political figure who has married the influential matriarch JOSIE and become a cornerstone of a southern town struggling to rebuild after the Civil War.

As racial tensions rise and the newly formed Ku Klux Klan threatens the fragile peace, Rex is urged by the state governor to investigate the long-unsolved murder of a prominent white planter. What begins as a quest for justice spirals into a harrowing journey of self-discovery and ruin, as chilling revelations expose not only Rex’s role in the killing—but the horrifying truth foretold by the blind seer TYREE: that Rex is, in every sense, “the motherfucker.”
Both searingly poetic and unflinchingly political, Reverend Rex is a powerful commentary on identity, legacy, and the tragic cost of truth.