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From the Playwright It has been a pleasure to work with Ann Keen on this new adaptation of Sophocles' Antigone. Ann is an incredibly astute reader and has contributed hugely to the vision of our Antigone. We both wanted this version to speak to today's world situation. I, in particular, wanted to bring out the inevitability of war when peoples demonize one another and reserve righteousness for their side alone. With every side certain that they are doing the work of God (or the gods) and that the other side is evil, there is no need to consider the enemy's point-of-view. We can thus dismiss the notion that others may have grievances that ought to be addressed. We can brush aside critics and get down to the business of war as the only solution to the unrepentant evil of the enemy. |
However, empathy is a quick and early victim in the march toward war, all the way back to the battles among the city-states of ancient Greece. If this version of Antigone helps any of us be a little more aware of our own and others' motivations in this time of war, it will have been well worth it.
- Richard Engling
From the Director
First and foremost I would like to thank my fellow collaborator Richard Engling. Even though I had several ideas about what I wanted to do with Antigone, I did not have all the tools to achieve what I envisioned. Richard has taken all the visuals and the random thoughts and placed them into what we hope to be a very timely and moving adaptation of Antigone. It has been a pleasure to work with him. My mother recently asked me why I like doing tragedies that seem to be depressing, dark, and focused on death. I am definitely attracted to Greek tragedies. But it is not because of the death and hopelessness. In fact, it is quite the opposite. It makes us hope all the more that life will afford us better luck and allow for better choices. Greek theatre takes us into a world where the circumstances are so dire that we begin to feel the weight on the character's shoulders. I love the challenge of returning to age-old conflicts that regardless of advances in medicine, technology, and society, we will struggle with the answers. We want the characters to gain perspective that is somehow so elusive to them within the current situation. And yet we hope that we are able to make those choices when the time comes for us to make the difficult decisions. It is in that journey of hope and the challenge of bringing to life these conflicts in new ways that drives me to do Greek theatre.
- Ann Keen
The Players
Antigone --------------------- Kathy Logelin
Creon ------------------------- Bill Bannon
Ismene ------------------------ Elizabeth Kline
Haemon ---------------------- Drew Vidal
Eurydice ---------------------- Kristy Karnbanis
Teiresias ---------------------- Richard Engling
Chorus Leader -------------- Rich Helland
Chorus ----------------------- Mary Mechler
Chorus/Guard -------------- Thad Anzur
Chorus ----------------------- Alexandra Helland
Chorus ----------------------- Charley Jordan
Chorus/Messenger --------- Bobby Zaman
Graphic Design ------------- Cathleen Ann
The script of Antigone and other works can be downloaded from www.richardengling.com.
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