Antigone: the timeless tragedy depicting the struggle between what is morally correct and what is socially correct.
If you did the summer reading, slaving over or at least skimming Antigone, you will understand what an endeavor your classmates have undertaken by participating in the 2010 Hewitt production of Antigone.
Antigone tells the story of a young woman who is faced with a tremendous dilemma when her brother is murdered, and her uncle, King Creon, decrees that his body shall rot outside the city gates, unburied. She is faced with the decision to either follow the rules her king has set forth, or do what she believes is ethical and bury her brother; she chooses the later and faces the consequences for her act of disobedience. As to whether Antigone is “victorious” in taking this stand for what she believes in and accepting death or Creon is correct in his actions is a debate still pondered today.
Antigone, originally written by the great Greek playwright Sophocles, has been adapted by many modern playwrights. The adaptation chosen to be performed for this production is that by Lewis Galantiere. Daniel Denver, resident drama, hand bells, and jazz choir teacher at Hewitt is, as always, directing this fall upper school play. Mr. Denver, upon reading many versions of the play, decided that the Galantiere version would best fit his criteria for an enthralling performance. Galantiere’s language is immediate and modern, and the script felt exciting, contemporary, and personal.
In an interview with Mr. Denver, I was able to get the scoop on Hewitt’s performance, which has a 7pm curtain on Thursday, October 28, and Friday, October 29. Mr. Denver tries to put on a classic play every other year. The past two were Shakespeare plays (The Tempest and Macbeth). This year, he felt it was high time to bring back Greek classics to the Hewitt stage. The last Greek writing performed at Hewitt was the 1981 production of Antigone. So what better way to go back to our roots and perform a more modern take on the ancient tragedy (one that poses timeless moral questions that readily accessible to anyone today)?
As with The Tempest and Macbeth, our production of Antigone will be accompanied by an Antigone- themed week at school. Upper school students will be participating in projects created by their teachers inspired by the play Antigone for various courses. Mr. Denver and the entire Antigone cast are excited for Antigone week. He hopes it will be an event that brings the Hewitt community together to celebrate art, and that everyone participating gets the chance to think about this work of art and the world around it.
I asked Mr. Denver about another aspect of the play: costume. He told me about this year’s costumer, Kristie Kouribiglin. He was delighted that she was able to visualize costume for the play by using his own descriptions for the philosophy behind the production. He credits her with a job well done.
The costumes are truly fabulous; they respect the original and adapted versions of Antigone while adding a modern and sometimes feminine twist. For example, King Creon will be sporting flow-y Indian formal wear while the guards will be wearing sage green vests, sequined-trimmed tops, and combat boots. As Alexandra Warrick quite adequately explained, “our costumer is maintaining certain elements and motifs of Ancient Greece in the draping and fit of our costumes, however? she has introduced anachronistic pieces in the form of outerwear and footwear”
As for Mr. Denver’s goals for the show, he hopes it will have the audience think about themselves, human interactions, and how this applies in their own lives. He also hopes that the audience experiences a catharsis that can only be reached through theater while watching this production.
To get the real behind-the-scenes info, I went straight to the cast.
I am privileged enough to take part in this production by playing the role of the king’s guard. From the start of our preparation for this production, I think we all sensed we were putting on a very different kind of Hewitt play. Many of us had read Antigone prior to our knowledge we would be acting in the play and loved it. Since the spring we have been in getting ready to put on this fantastic show, and are ecstatic to get to show off our hard work and dedication for the past months.
Samantha Apfel, this year’s head of drama, leader of Hewitt’s branch of ITS, and lead Antigone says: “Antigone is one of the most difficult shows I’ve ever done at Hewitt. I mean, it took 8 hours of rehearsal time just to block the Antigone-Creon scene, which is a grueling 17 pages. But, because we are all working so hard, it is also one of the most rewarding shows I’ve ever been a part of. Every person in the cast has a great moment in the show, and our stage is incredible; I think it’s going to be really amazing to see, and I am so excited to share it with everyone.”
What I think most of us (the cast) have gotten out of the show is finding our character in ourselves. These may be figures created centuries ago, but today we can still relate to the moral questions posed in the text and emotions our characters go through: teenaged angst, rebellion, the desire for control, disbelief, and fear. I have personally been pleasantly challenged by finding my inner ruthless, masculine, and indifferent state of mind in preparation to act as a guard in the show.
I have noticed that my cast-mates have also taken a particular interest in their characters in this play. Alexandra Warrick explained to me that her character Creon “has elements as a character that I love to perform. He gets to do a lot of yelling – I love that. He gets to do a lot of reasoning – I love that. He gets to do a lot of talking, and you know I love that. I feel a very strong affinity with the character of Creon, which is what makes playing him so frightening. I really, really want to get him right.”
Marianelly Rios, a trained dancer, has told me that her role of Queen Eurydice is a “part very different from anything I’ve ever done in a Hewitt play. Eurydice is the queen and she doesn’t have any lines, therefore Mr. Denver had the idea that I would dance to make up for her lack of speech. I’ve been working with Ms. Hirschman to choreograph the dances.”
We also have a silent page being played by Cameron King (7th Grade) who is unvoiced yet ever-present at Creon’s side throughout the play, which has been very interesting to watch.
In addition, the cast has been lucky enough to receive the help of this year’s diligent stage managers, Maria Sabater and Johanna Ring.
On a whole, the cast thinks: “rehearsals are going great; everyone is putting 100% of their efforts into all the memorizing, blocking, and characterization” (Pauline Cronin). We have all also recognized that,” We can produce a great show, but like in everything else, it will take a lot of work.” (Maria Sabater).
As for our own hopes for the show, I think we share this thought from Alexandra Warrick:
“As long as we manage to emotionally invest the audience in a story of which they already know the conclusion, I feel we have done our jobs. Antigone isn’t about discovering who ‘wins’, after all – we are informed who will live and who will die from the outset. It’s about the individual journey each character takes, the conversations they have, the discourse between Antigone and Creon, the ideas behind each of their stances on morality and mortality alike. Right and wrong, life and death, authority, moral ambiguity – all of these concepts, concepts that are bigger, perhaps, than both of them, get called in to question. The beauty can be found in how the characters grapple with them. As long as we manage to make the audience consider them as a result, we’re golden.” (Alexandra Warrick)