Play Card #5: Antigone

mask club #3 saw on Thursday, February 16, 2012; 4pm at BYU

Antigone

Written by Jean Anouilh [adapted by Lewis Galantiere]
A woman (Antigone) wants a proper burial for her brother, but her father (Creon) --the nation's general/leader-- would not allow it. In fact, he forbids anyone to try anything like that. So Antigone stands up for what she believes in and attempts to give her brother a proper burial anyway, despite her father's severe consequences. She is found out, but her father wants to save her. Though she is so stubborn that she be treated like everyone else and taunts her father to do something about it. He has no choice. [Spoiler] She is sentenced to death, but not until after they discover that her brother is actually alive. Antigone dies and the brother then takes his own life as a result. Creon is left with no one.
3 Characters:

• Antigone -- strong headed woman in opposition of her father's tyrannical rule

• O: to bury her brother properly and demand fair treatment of all her father's subjects, even her
• T: 1) to ask her father; 2) to conspire without his knowledge; 3) to openly defy him; 4) to sacrifice her own life for justice
• Chorus -- narrator of story
• O: to bring the audience in and help them understand as well as fill in any missing links
• T: 1) to gesture; 2) to excite audience for what is to happen next; 3) to declare the wrongs and rights of the world they live in
• Creon -- strong headed tyrannical ruler that is subject the law he put in place; Antigone's father

• O: to protect his children and his country
• T: 1) to set laws that would fit his command; 2) to appease Antigone so that she will marry her father's suitor; 3) to admit his weakness; 4) to choose to sacrifice his daughter to abide by his law
• Guard -- Creon's brown-noser guard
• O: to please Creon with obedience and servitude
• T: 1) to tell Creon about his daughter's delinquent acts; 2) to be obedient; 3) to keep Antigone's betrayal secret until Creon figured out what to do; 4) to force Antigone to her death

Scenes/Monologues/misc:

This was okay. The acting could have felt more connected in terms of physical actor-actor relationships (standing hips closer together during kiss; stepping away in fear; etc.).

I really enjoyed the Chorus narrator [Sarah Porter]. She had a lot of presence and led the actor-audience relationship very well. I liked her ending monologue about the characters, and how she wrapped it all up.  Also, how she did things on the side of the stage to keep us in check (playing with cards on the bench facing us), that this is still a story.

Antigone had a good monologue. I forgot where.. it was in the middle when she was declaring her right to do what she believed to be right.