ANTIGONE/PROGENY Plays Extant Arts Company, Now thru 12/9

Extant Arts Company announces the Off-Off Broadway premiere of Antigone/Progeny, a new translation of Sophocles' classic work paired with an original adaptation for the 21st century to be performed in repertory. The new translation of Antigone and the original play Progeny will run in repertory tonight, November 29 – December 9, 2012 at The Connelly Theater.

A brisk, new translation of Antigone, led by Sarah Sharp, features fully sung-and-danced choruses and three actors performing all of the major roles. Progeny asks: "What would Antigone look like if it happened now?" By updating the central themes and core story to the present moment, it re-centers the eternal conflict between divine and secular law on the struggle over women's reproductive rights.

Originally conceived by Director Greg Taubman, and developed as a Master's Thesis Project in association with Columbia Stages, Antigone/Progeny will make its Off-Off Broadway debut. This project grows directly out of Extant Arts Company's mission to combine enduring works with new projects that speak directly to the way we live now. "Antigone is one of those plays that you read in high school and think you know," says Taubman, "but I've been challenged again and again by just how complicated Antigone and Creon are as characters. There's a real conversation between the two pieces about the costs of certainty, and I think audiences will find the questions that are raised to be quite different from what they may expect."

Greg Taubman is an exciting young theatre artist with a lifelong passion for enduring stories and classical theatre. After earning highest honors studying Classics at Princeton, Greg founded Extant Arts Company in New York with the mission of engaging audiences in a conversation about our shared narratives. While guiding Extant through 16 productions in six short years, Greg also served as a dramaturg on The Public's Bacchae in 2008 and Classic Stage Company's Orlando in 2010. For the last three years, Greg has been refining his craft in Columbia's rigorous MFA Directing Program. Antigone/Progeny is the product of years of study and development by Greg, who co-translated Antigone and adapted Progeny.

Extant Arts Company, founded in 2006, crafts high-quality productions from the classical canon coupled with new work in venues throughout the New York metropolitan area. Committed to continued engagement with enduring stories, Extant Arts's dedicated artists and staff have explored the works of such luminaries as Euripides, Shakespeare, Chekhov, Ibsen, Feydeau, and Schnitzler, as well as contemporary voices like Rebecca Gilman, and Ellen McLaughlin, all while working with schools to foster a passion for theatre in the next generation.

Press night will be held tonight, November 29th whci will include a double feature special. All press are welcome & invited to attend this and any subsequent performance. Tickets are $30 while tickets for all other performances are $18. Please contact publicist to make arrangements at glenndekler@gmail.com and go to www.extantarts.org for showtimes and ticket information. 

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