A Noise Within (ANW), the acclaimed classical repertory theatre company, presents a world premiere adaptation of Jean Anouilh's Antigone, translated and directed by ANW Resident Artist Robertson Dean, beginning September 20 and playing through November 20, 2015 (opens on September 26). Antigone is the second production in the Company's 2015-2016 BREAKING AND ENTERING season, preceded by the West Coast Premiere of David Ives' translation of Georges Feydeau's classic farce A Flea in Her Ear (September 6-November 22) and followed by All My Sons by Arthur Miller, in celebration of the Miller centennial (October 11-November 21).
This is only the second English language translation of the play since its American premiere in 1945. Now, with special permission from the Anouilh Estate, A Noise Within Resident Artist
Robertson Dean's adaptation marks the world premiere of a new version of this spellbinding play, written for a 2015 audience.
The cast includes
Emily James* as Antigone,
Eric Curtis Johnson* as Creon, Brick Patrick* as Haemon,
Lorna Raver as Nurse, Kyla Garcia* as Ismene, Steve Weingartner* as Guard, and Inger Tudor* as Chorus. * Denotes member of Actors'Equity.
Anouilh's reimagining of the Greek classic roars with dramatic power - and poses questions about choosing between personal values and those of the larger society in which we live One of theatre's most compelling heroines (known to audiences in both the Sophocles and Anouilh versions), Antigone accepts her fate with fearless grace - and dares herself and the audience to rise to the greater good.
The Director's Vision
"It is a great honor to have been entrusted with this new adaptation," Rob Dean confides, "but the privilege carries with it responsibility-both to the play and to the woman whose heroism it celebrates. If my translation causes audiences to question the certainty of their own morals-or at least, to bring their value systems into high relief-then I will have done right by her.
Antigone is the first and greatest heroine in all of Western drama, and is the template on which all others are based. The play is a wrenching portrait of a heroine who knows what matters, and who remains true to herself to the end. It asks, 'What if you thought something was sacred but nobody else did? Would you hold true to your beliefs even if doing so ensured your own demise?'
Our version of the play is set in a manner that recalls both the modern world and Ancient Greece-a staging decision that redoubles the play's urgency and universal themes. Indeed," Rob believes, "the parallel between the fall of ancient Greece and the present financial debacle in Athens is easily suggested; no word better describes the catalyst of both events than the fittingly Hellenic hubris."
The production is set in the Royal Palace in Thebes in 1943; a large Doric column lies in decay around the stage, and the detritus of a civil war: the belongings of everyone who lived in the palace, from the time of Sophocles to the present, have been dumped into the room. In concordance with the classical unities, the action takes place in a day, and Antigone is well aware that she is watching her last sunrise, as the light goes from East to West.
The genesis of this new version began when an actress asked Dean to direct her in the play - and he began to wonder why it was so infrequently performed. The English of the original translation from 1946 (which starred
Katherine Cornell on Broadway) is archaic; people just don't speak that way anymore. The language of the present production is modern-yet I hope it retains a gravitas worthy of its magnificent subject. "It is certainly my hope that this will draw a whole new generation to the message of this uncompromising play," said Dean.
Breaking & Entering as Repertory Season Theme
Antigone reflects the theme of the 2015-2016 season at its most literal. Here the heroine will not break her single purposed view of life, forged by the gods themselves. When her uncle, Creon, chooses to not obey the gods, the entire familial structure is crushed, and chaos ensues.-a breakdown as catastrophic as that experienced by
Arthur Miller's family in All My Sons, where an inability to be truthful with each other results in an emotional meltdown. The chaos in the comedy A Flea in Her Ear shows us characters who lose trust and confidence in each other, based on their aversion to both vulnerability and truth. Unlike in Antigone and All My Sons however, Feydeau provides us with Act Three, in which all is set right, before the curtain falls.
Jean Anouilh Biography
Born Jean-Marie-Lucien-Pierre Anouilh (born June 23, 1910, Bordeaux, France-died Oct. 3, 1987, Lausanne, Switz.), Anouilh rejected the literary styles of both Naturalism and Realism to embrace what has been called "theatricalism," an outlook marked by the return of poetry and imagination to the stage. His work is marked by a wide range of interests and genres, from the stylized use of Greek myth, to the rewriting of history, to the comédie-ballet, to the modern comedy of character. Although not a pure adherent of Existentialism of the Sartrian mode, Anouilh developed his own view of life highlighting the contradictions within human reality; chief among these is his fascination with the ambiguous relationships between good and evil.
His unique dramatic vision of the world poses the question of how far the individual must compromise the truth to obtain happiness. His plays show men or women facing the loss of the privileged world of childhood. Some of his characters accept the inevitable; some, such as the light-headed creatures of Le Bal des voleurs (1938; Thieves' Carnival), live lies; and others, such as Antigone (1944), reject any tampering with ideals.
Single ticket prices for Antigone start at $44.00. Contact the A Noise Within box office in person, via phone at
626-356-3100, or online at
www.ANoiseWithin.org for updated pricing and seat availability. A Noise Within is located on the corner of Foothill Boulevard and Sierra Madre Villa Avenue at 3352 East Foothill Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91107.
The engagement of Antigone includes a symposium with a lecture from a noted scholar on Wednesday, September 23 at 6:30 pm prior to the performance, and post-performance conversations with the artists on Sunday, October 4 at 2:00 pm, and Friday, November 20 at 8:00 pm.
A Noise Within's 2015-16 Season also includes A Flea in Her Ear by
Georges Feydeau, All My Sons by
Arthur Miller, our annual A Christmas Carol by
Charles Dickens, Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare, You Never Can Tell by George
Bernard Shaw, and Six Characters In Search of an Author by
Luigi Pirandello.
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