Last week and this week, the Hamilton theatre department performed its spring play, Antigonick. Antigonick is Anne Carson’s modern translation and retelling of the Greek tragedy Antigone, by Sophokles.
If you’re unfamiliar with the original work, it follows the events of a war between brothers Polyneices and Eteokles, who both claimed the throne to Thebes and ended up dying by the other’s hand. The new ruler, Kreon, decides that Polyneices will be the only one to be honored by proper burial since he was the one in power when Eteokles tried to take back the throne. Their sister Antigone defies the law and buries her brother, and ends up being buried alive by Kreon when he finds out.
In Anne Carson’s version, the classical source material is juxtaposed with a modern setting. The Romano theatre in KTSA was transformed into the Oval Office 2017, and obvious parallels were brought forth between the tyrannical Kreon and Donald Trump. Members of the chorus became news reporters or talk show hosts. The dialogue from the play was often translated close to how it was originally written, but interspersed with more modern phrases and ways of speaking.
The cast and crew did a fantastic job. The performances and set were great, and the play is very thought-provoking and relevant to our country’s current social and political climate. It deals with themes of authoritarianism, misogyny, nationalism, and more.
A photo from Hamilton’s website, showing Angelique Archer ’20 as Antigone as she’s lowered into her grave.