Antigone: Poetry on the Stage

Emily James (Antigone) and Stephen Weingartner (Guard). – Photo by Craig Schwartz

By Nathaniel Cayanan

The first five minutes of Antigone are void of any dialogue.  Instead, as we watch actress Lorna Raver (Nunu) panic in a room surrounded by a war-torn world outside, we hear planes zooming above, bombs whistling down from the heavens, and a song of longing come from an old radio. These sounds pull us into a world that is tense, violent, and scary, but they are then broken by silence that announces the arrival of the young heroine Antigone, who, we are told immediately by the chorus, will die by the end of the play.

Directed by actor/director Robertson Dean, Antigone, the tragedy written by Jean Anouilh and inspired by the Sophocles play of the same name, follows a young princess of Thebes who sets out to give a proper burial to her brother after he is killed in battle.  The catch is, however, that this brother, Polynices, is deemed a traitor to the newly-appointed king, Creon, who demands that Polynices’ body stay rotting on the battlefield. This brings up deep existential conflicts within Antigone, who lives in a world where women only have two responsibilities: to raise children and bury the dead.

Emily James (Antigone), Kyla Garcia (Ismene). – Photo by Craig Schwartz

While this main motivating factor pushes the action forward in the play, it ironically does not matter if Antigone actually buries her brother, nor does it matter whether she is deemed the righteous one among the characters.  The reasons that Creon does what he does are quite valid, after all.  No. What matters here is whether Antigone accomplishes what Anouilh has always aimed to do in his plays: a sense of purity through rebellion against the powers that be.

Executing a play of such philosophical depth is no small feat.  Luckily, this iteration is in the hands of a director who not only understands the text he’s dealing with, but is also a person who understands how to analyze each line carefully, push his actors to treat each word and motion deliberately, and integrate stunning visuals and sounds into one impressive play.  From beginning to end, the cast skillfully balances the humor, drama, and poetry of the source material.

Emily James, who plays Antigone, truly shines as a young, naive, yet noble character who rises above kings by sticking to her principles, even with the consequence of death.  Her scenes with Eric Curtis Johnson (King Creon) balance the complex emotions of these characters and the poetry of Anouilh’s writing, especially with lines such as “Frightened men are so ugly,” or “You’d be quite the king if men were animals.”

Stephen Weingartner (Guard) behind Inger Tudor (Chorus). – Photo by Craig Schwartz

The director deserves much of the credit, as this was probably one of the most polished productions the company has offered this year.  Dean, who has worked with the company as recently as in the company’s iteration of Julius Caesar earlier this year, exhibits a vision that does justice to Anouilh’s work.  The lighting design by Jean-Yves Tessier and sets by Frederica Nascimento truly complement, rather than compete, with the stellar performances of the cast.  They come together in a delicate balance that makes this 90-minute play a wonder to behold.

Antigone will play until Nov. 20th, 2015, at A Noise Within, 3352 East Foothill Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91107.  Show days and times are Thursdays at 7:30 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m., Sundays at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m., and Friday (Nov. 20th) at 8 p.m.  Single tickets are $44; adult group tickets, $30 each; and student group tickets, $18 each. Purchases can be made through www.anoisewithin.org or by calling (626) 356-3100.

Stephen Weingartner (Guard) and Emily James (Antigone). – Photo by Craig Schwartz

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