Advertisement

Culture Theatre

Antigone

ANTIGONE by Jean Anouilh (Soulpepper). At the Young Centre. To October 17. See Continuing. Rating: NNN


Jean Anouilh’s 1944 adaptation of Sophocles’ Theban tragedy about authority, resistance and truth is most interesting because it premiered while France was under German occupation. While it isn’t a matter of straight substitution – that would have been too obvious to the Nazi censors – the politics of the French Resistance are intelligently encoded into Anouilh’s philosophical script.

[rssbreak]

Soulpepper’s revival is faithful to Anouilh’s update, setting the action in a modern, authoritarian Thebes, where the story finds Antigone (Liisa Repo-Martell), daughter of the former king, resisting an act deemed essential to consolidating the power of the new king, her uncle Creon (R.H. Thomson).

The long opening scene between Antigone, her sister (Claire Calnan) and Nurse (Maggie Huculak) drags in the middle, partly from repetitive back-and-forth blocking and partly because Antigone’s fuck-the-state, emo attitude hasn’t yet been justified philosophically.

But director Chris Abraham does nail the show’s pivotal moments, eliciting a thought-provoking balance of cruelty, compassion and pragmatism through Thomson’s Creon, who must decide how to handle Antigone’s insubordination.

Jeff Lillico provides complex comic relief in the role of Creon’s bumbling, AK-toting Everyman guard. While very funny on the surface, his character is also the most obvious/ominous symbol of the Nazi oppression Anouilh was resisting.

Advertisement

Exclusive content and events straight to your inbox

Subscribe to our Newsletter

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

By signing up, I agree to receive emails from Now Toronto and to the Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions.

Recently Posted