On Stage: Performing Arts at our Oneonta Campuses by Rachel Frick Cardelle

Drama, Politics and Intrigue in ‘Antigone’

Do you love a show about some super messy family drama that plays itself out with politics and intrigue? Like a good debate about when it is one’s duty to abide by society’s rules and when one should rebel against authority? Want to contemplate the role of women in society? Hartwick College’s presentation of “Antigone” provides the opportunity for you to enjoy all of this. Originally written by Sophocles in 441 BCE and adapted by Don Taylor in 1986, Hartwick’s “Antigone,” directed by Marc Shaw, offers an updated version of this ancient Greek play about loyalty, the law, and the consequences of defying authority. Oh, and did I mention the family drama?

Sophocles wrote “Antigone” as the continuation of a story he started in two previous plays, “Oedipus Rex” and “Oedipus at Colonus.” Since Antigone is not the first of the three plays about the city of Thebes, let me quickly catch you up on all the drama that happens in the first two plays. This is where the family drama comes in, because the plays focus on Oedipus, the king of Thebes, and the curse under which his family lives.

Before “Antigone” begins, Oedipus has unwittingly killed his own father (major guilt), married his mother (gross), blinded himself (ouch), and gone into exile (reasonable decision, sort of a self-impeachment), leaving behind his two sons and two daughters (yes, from his marriage to his mother). The two sons decide to take turns being king of Thebes, agreeing each of them will rule in alternating years. Of course, anyone who has a sibling will tell you that such an arrangement is bound to cause some friction at the family holiday gatherings. Sure enough, after the first year the son who is king, Eteocles, tells the son who would be king, Polynices, that he has changed his mind and thinks he’ll just stay on as king. Not surprisingly, Polynices does not take well to this announcement, raises an army and goes to war against Eteocles. (Oh, don’t look so shocked…who amongst us in our youth hasn’t waged a small war against a beloved family member?) As is inevitable in a good Greek family drama, the brothers end up facing one another on the battlefield, where they kill each other.

Left standing in Oedipus’ cursed family are Creon, both the uncle and the brother-in-law of Oedipus (remember, Oedipus married his own mother, so the family tree looks more like a labyrinth that doubles back on itself), and Oedipus’ daughters, Ismene and Antigone. Creon becomes king (because apparently there haven’t been enough males from this family who have wreaked havoc on the poor kingdom of Thebes) and he decrees that Ismene and Antigone may bury Eteocles with all honors, but Polynices shall be left unburied, thereby condemning Polynices’ soul to wander restlessly, never finding peace and doomed to cause anguish to his remaining family. This leaves Ismene and Antigone—who have lost their grandfather, grandmother/mother, father, and two brothers—devastated.

And that is the end of Season 1, or the first two plays of this fun family. There’s more, but that is what you need to know to follow the plot of “Antigone.” Talk about a cliff hanger. Can you imagine living in Greece back then, going to see the first two plays, and then having to wait for the third and final show to come out? Times have changed less than we might think in the public entertainment realm…

Fortunately for you, this is where “Antigone” picks up the story. I am not going to offer any spoilers other than to say that Sophocles and Don Taylor tell a great story and Antigone is not interested in following Creon’s decree without question. I will, however, share with you some of the thoughts of the Hartwick College director and cast on this production of “Antigone.”

Director Marc Shaw and the cast all agreed that they like this particular adaptation of Sophocles’ play, for a number of reasons.

Sam Scott loves the tone of the language, with some aspects of poetry and rhymes of which he is a big fan. He was also quick to point out that when he explains to someone that “Antigone” is an old Greek play, he often gets the same concern.

“They’re like, oh, what’s the language like? Am I going to be able to understand it?” he said. “I have to go, yes, you will. Because especially our translation that we’re doing is very absorbable to the everyday audience member. And I think that’s really good, especially on a college campus.”

Marc focused largely on how relevant the show is to today’s political issues: “I mean, there’s no way to separate our text here from the context of our current society, right? There’s no way to do that. And I think that’s the great thing about this play. It has that capability to resonate to every situation, particularly in the past few years, everything that’s happening with women’s rights versus women’s roles…Antigone says, ‘No, you know what your rules are, just man made. And I see something better. I see a higher calling in what I’m doing.’”

Charis Peters liked the instant connection that she and others felt to the script, despite it being based on a play written more than 2,500 years ago.

“I appreciated how modern the language is, in that when we did our first read through, we were all just getting an authentic reaction to the script, and there are some honest bits of comedic relief in there, with characters like the messenger or the soldier,” Charis explained. “And I think there can sometimes be a divide between how humanity has evolved in the past versus where we are now. But when they found the same things funny as we find funny today—to see us play this script and really understand the jokes that are being told—it shows you that some things are just universal, no matter how far apart in years, the script has existed from the people who originally created it to us creating it today.”

One of the actors, Jas Stuchel, was originally introduced to the script in a “theater of protest” class they took with Professor Barbara Kahl.

“We studied ‘Antigone’ in this class, because it’s the first protest theater, [and] my immediate thought was, how relevant is it still today? Protest theater is really, really relevant in the theater realm today, with a lot of the major issues going around,” Jas said. “’Antigone’” especially focuses on such strong female voices. Our Creon is even being played by a woman. And so my first thought was how kind of cool it is that we’re doing it, especially in the year of an election–how important it is to have old plays that are still highlighting strong female voices.”

Charis chimed in, “During [ancient] Greek times, women weren’t allowed to perform in theater, so you would have men playing women’s roles. And us having a female actor play Creon kind of extends that tradition of those gender roles.”

The discussion of gender, women’s roles and rights, and civil versus moral duty and how all these topics are relevant today wended its way through much of the discussion about “Antigone.”

Marc spoke directly to some of the sharp political divides happening in our current environment, saying, “In this play, you have Antigone, who’s standing up for what she believes is right. And then you also have Creon, who really is our tragic hero, in that he could be great. Part of the requirements for a tragedy is that the tragic hero could be great. They’re not true villains, and Creon is a great, man…But then what always happens before the fall? It’s the pride, the hubris. It’s useful to anyone to see this play, to see on stage that people can have different points of view and both be good and both be right. One of the points that Creon tries to make is, ‘I have to uphold the law. I am the king.’”

Oriana Letzelter finds the conflict between niece and uncle inspiring.

“And I think it’s touching, honestly, that [Antigone’s] willing to do all this so her brother can be at rest and meet her moral standard. And I think it’s something we can all learn—to hold your own morals close and really appreciate them, fight for them, especially now with the election being so close. If you can vote, you should vote, because you’re fighting for what you believe to be right.”

There was much more to the conversation I had with this group, but I don’t have the space for sharing all of it. Suffice it to say that despite what you might think when you hear “Greek tragedy,” there is humor in this play, it speaks directly to much of what is happening in politics today, AND the family drama in “Antigone” competes with any episode of “Real Housewives.” And I didn’t even mention the fact that Antigone is engaged to her (Great) Uncle Creon’s son.

“Antigone,” directed by Marc Shaw, plays at Hartwick’s Lab Theater in the Bresee Hall Basement on Hartwick College’s campus with shows November 6–9 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $5.00 general admission and free for Hartwick students, faculty, and staff. Seating is limited and reservations can be made at (607) 431-4900 or [email protected]. Parking is available in the visitor’s parking area behind Bresee Hall. Please note: The Lab Theatre is not wheelchair accessible.

Next up: SUNY Oneonta presents Shakespeare’s “Tempest,” directed by Andrew Kahl, November 14-17.

Rachel Frick Cardelle covers performing arts at SUNY Oneonta and Hartwick College.