Antigone at the Southwark Playhouse

My memories of the great Greek tragedies are coloured by impassioned performances of an octogenarian lecturer, whose pounding of the wooden floorboards as she read the final words of the heroes and heroines from the pages left her rasping and clutching her knitwear-clad chest. While my attention often turned to whether we were about to witness this poor woman win herself a martyr’s death before us for paying such homage to the classics, one thing that was clear was that those Greeks sure knew how to do passion.

King of tragedians and awkward family trees is Sophocles, whose ‘Three Theban’ plays have entertained even the most philistine amongst us when it comes to classic literature – yes this is the guy who wrote about the guy who did the deed with his mum. Well this unholy – yet inadvertent – union resulted in some offspring, doomed to perpetuate their father’s terrible fate thus allowing Sophocles to really hammer home the point that if The Fates have it in for you, they are some mean ladies to shake.

Corruption, rage and death are all key themes for classic theatre but in the Southwark Playhouse’s latest production, Antigone, the final of Sophocles’ Theban trilogy, Primavera have used Timberlake Wertenbaker’s translation to expertly bring this ancient play right up to date by drawing unexpected parallels with Middle Eastern politics and gender debates.

To bring you up to speed – following the big reveal of mother-loving, Oedipus was exiled from Thebes, leaving his two sons, Polyneikes and Eteokles to rule, unsurprisingly this does not end well, namely in them both killing each other. Antigone begins with the remaining fruits of Oedipus’ loins, the eponymous Antigone and her sister Ismene, outraged by their uncle Kreon’s order to allow one brother a proper burial while the other is left to rot and feed the Theban wildlife.

As far as plot, Antigone is simple as we follow the characters through the resulting debates that come alongside the driving question being how do you deal with the body of a terrorist? For Kreon, Polyneikes was such a terrorist, attempting to destroy Thebes while Eteokles was the worthy ruler of the city and so is deserving of an honourable death – but is it always so black and white when family is involved? Not when it is Oedipus’ family, that’s for sure.

Placed in the Middle Eastern context, complemented by the unique settings of press conferences and military guards, wafts of incense and traditionally inspired music and choreography, Antigone successfully makes the transition from classical entertainment to a stark reminder of the despotic leaders who rule through fear and silence today.  Kreon’s powerful exchanges with Antigone demonstrate the admirable chemistry between the two actors but also demonstrating that in this outspoken woman, Kreon may have finally met his match.

For me, the real triumph of the play is this discussion of the role of women, made all the more pertinent in this Middle Eastern setting where women’s political voices are all too often silenced – or in the case of Antigone, punished. Illuminating the many levels of Sophocles’ original play and shining the light on some wonderful acting talents, Antigone is a must see for classicists and modernists alike forcing us to remember that misogyny and corruption, like a fate’s wrath, is handed down through the generations.

Antigone is running until  June 18 at:

Southwark Playhouse
Shipwright Yard
Corner of Tooley Street and Bermondsey Street
Waterloo
SE1 2TF

Tel: 020 7407 0234