Punk ‘Antigone’ offers fresh take on old tale
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A Greek tragedy set in punk-era England. Unless you’re a diehard fan of Sophocles or the Sex Pistols, it sounds excruciating.
But it’s not. “Antigone,” which opened Monday at LSU’s Shaver Theatre, is a fresh yet mostly conventional telling of a classic story, once you get past the outfits, musical interludes and the spiky, technicolor hair.
Directed by Michael Tick, “Antigone” opens just after the city-state of Thebes has emerged victorious in a civil war led on opposing sides by brothers, the loyal Eteocles and the rebel Polyneices.
Thebes’ ruler, Creon, (played by Nick Erickson) has ruled that Eteocles will be honored, but Polyneices will be left unburied on the battlefield for the carrion animals to desecrate. Anyone violating the edict will be put to death.
This is unacceptable to one of their sisters, Antigone (Kaitlyn Stockwell), who tries to persuade her sister, Ismene, (Elizabeth Roseanne Cowan) to help her give Polyneices a proper burial. Ismene, fearful of Creon’s wrath, refuses, so Antigone does so herself. When a guard (Max Thornton) reports that Polyneices has been buried, an enraged Creon orders the guard to find the culprit or face death himself. He soon returns with Antigone, who does not hide her guilt, but argues that morality compelled her to care for her brother. A remorse-stricken Ismene falsely confesses to helping Antigone, and Creon has both sisters locked up to await execution.
Creon’s son (and Antigone’s fiance) Haemon (Chris Silva) appears, and expresses loyalty to his dad but urges mercy for Antigone. The conversation quickly sours, as Creon accuses his son of disloyalty, and Haemon accuses his father of pigheaded pride. Haemon leaves, vowing never to see his father again, but neither this nor the entreaty of the prophet Tiresias (Jacob Miller) can change Creon’s mind. Ismene is freed, and Antigone is sealed in a cave with food and water but no contact with other people, setting in motion the play’s tragic conclusion.
“Antigone” stands the 2,500-year test of time because it artfully deals with significant issues: When is it right to disobey the law because of allegiance to a higher authority? What are the obligations of citizenship? Creon argues forcefully and logically for the rule of law, and is honorable in that he applies it despite his family relationship with the accused. Antigone insists that no law can sever the ties of family and is willing to accept the consequences. “I honored what should be honored,” she insists.
Stockwell and Erickson are excellent in their roles, which dominate the play, and all of the other speaking parts are handled quite competently. Thornton adds an enjoyably light touch to his role as the guard understandably terrified of his ruler’s temper.
Choreography by Molly Buchmann and Allison Ward (along with Robin L. McGee’s costumes) gives the show its punk flavor.
James L. Murphy’s set design — a two-level stage connected by a center staircase and backed by translucent panels, one of which raises to reveal Creon on his throne — is simple but effective, with Ken White’s lighting giving the panels all manner of shape and color.
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