Beginning
a review of Antigone by writing, it
was all Greek to me would be clichéd, so therefore perfect for myself to do. In the case of the Royal and Derngate
Actors Company’s production it would be irrelevant though. As this was a clear,
modern, indeed futuristic version of the ancient story. With all the distress and despair generally on offer, it could have perhaps been Eastenders.
Antigone was written by Sophocles almost 2500 years ago and
tells the story of an empire in pieces following a crippling war. Ruled by King
Creon (didn't Elvis used to sing about him?), whose declaration that two warrior brothers be divided in death, one
honoured, one unburied, is challenged by their sister Antigone.
Director Trudy A Bell, who most recently directed
the third year University
of Northampton
Early in the play we are introduced to Antigone, played effectively by Tina Barratt, who displays very well the determination to
see her brother honoured and her scenes with her sister Ismene (Tara
Powerville) are some of the best of the play. As the tyrannical King Creon (uh-huh-huh), Steve While also has
the gravitas and clarity of voice to portray a King. His crowning glory comes
in the scene with his son Haemon (Adam Kozuch) where their exchange of words is both dynamic, ruthless and hugely effective (Haemon: “What a splendid King
you’d make of a desert island”). The only light relief from the play comes early in
the production with two relatively brief, but excellent scenes with two
sentries. Played with gusty by Erica Mynard (behave helmet, damn you!) and Ben Webb, these provided genuine
humour and undoubtedly garnered the most reaction from the audience. Much like the Shakespeare I have seen in recent times, where the fool gets the best reactions in a tragedy, these were the fools of the play (I mean that in a friendly way).
The set and costumes from Meryl Couper were one of
immediate impact, vivid colours and stylish costumes that would not be out of
place on the Starship Enterprise. I awaited the moment that King Creon commanded to Mr Riker to "MAKE IT SO!" or Ismene proclaimed "There's Klingon's on the starboard bow!". Sadly this never happened. However the set provided a most wonderfully effective canvas for the performance to play out against. Also very clever was the
staging of the entombment scene, cleverly designed and well directed, it added
dynamics to an already strong scene. Finally much of the play was given a
greater gravitas by some high quality music from composer Simon Evans-White.
Strong beats providing once again a more modern take (excerpts can be found on Mr Evans-White's website here). The tune played to Eurydice's (Helen Gibb) powerful monologue was particularly haunting, all gongs and swishing sounds.
All this summed up to an especially enjoyable production of a, yes morbid tale, with some interesting and effective design and directorial takes and a sprinkling of humour that added
greatly to the performance.
Performance reviewed: Friday 18th July 2014 at the Royal & Derngate (Royal), Northampton.
Antigone was performed at the Royal & Derngate (Royal) by the Royal & Derngate Actors Company on the 18th and 19th July, 2014.
Antigone was performed at the Royal & Derngate (Royal) by the Royal & Derngate Actors Company on the 18th and 19th July, 2014.