Productions Online

A July, 2002, Google search for Antigone matched with production, staging, costume, and lighting produced dozens of pages of hits. The following selections are from the first 6 pages of links, but reports of many other interesting productions abound. For instance, on page 25 of these search results was listed a link to the Antigone that starred actress Mira Furlan, who became famous to American audiences as Delenn on Babylon 5. Click the caption to open the production's website. Hold your mouse on the photo to reveal an annotation about the production shown in the thumbnail photo.

The Loeb Drama Center in Cambridge, Mass., home of the American Repertory Theater, did a production of Antigone in 2000-2001. The website is exceptionally complete, with links to bios of cast members, production stills, and notes on the play. See, in particular, the analytical background and summary notes of Mary Lefkowitz, entitled "The Price of Honor," as well as the interview with translator Robert Fagles on Giving Voice to Antigone. Program notes include a biography and photo of Sophocles as depicted by a Roman, Walter Valeri's essay "Suicide and Democracy," which portrays Antigone's suicide as an act of defiance against Creon's judgment. See also the family tree of Antigone.

The riskiest aspect of the USC production of Antigone in 2002 is the use of real-time video of the play being shown on one or more of five large screens from a feed off a hand-held camera. One of the more interesting aspects is using one or more of those same screens to show a pre-recording staging of the "desert scene" at a silica plant; only sand and sky show behind the actors, apparently.
Costume and set should suggest a modern Middle Eastern country rather than ancient Greece to heighten the clash of religious traditions and modern mores of society, as well as the status of women.
Directed by Jay Berkow, the production starred Master of Fine Arts students Marcie Kearns as Antigone and Michael Kroeker as Creon (shown in photo above left). Click caption for details at USC web.

Was Creon a fascist? The College of the Albemarle (North Carolina) production of Antigone in October, 2001, makes it look like he was an elegant fascist. The main characters were clad in evening clothes, while the guards wore uniforms reminiscent of a different "reich" than Creon's. Togas they are not. (See the Bushey Grammar School production of 1957 [Click the caption of the photo on the right, above, in black and white] for similar costuming.)

LaLumiere School in Illinois produced Antigone in 2002. The web page contains clickable thumbnails to access stills showing cast and set. Another 2002 Illinois production got a blast from the reviewer for using women in the chorus, playing Creon beyond out of control, and too much recitation rather than conversing when delivering lines. The reviewer also didn't appreciate actually seeing Antigone hang herself and having other violent acts pantomimed as the messenger reported them.

Henley College's 2001 outdoor production of Antigone is depicted at a rather complete website. If you can get past the bloody photo on the cover page, click through the Gallery to see stills from the production and production notes. (Photo: From the Gallery, Ismene [Gemma McMullen] is urged by Antigone [Vicky Smith] to help her tend to her brother's burial.)

For the photos above, click the caption to open the production's website. Hold your mouse on the photo to reveal an annotation below about the production shown in the thumbnail photo.

Old Dominion University's opulent theatrical production in 2000 looks rich in colors and textures in these production stills, as well as bold in casting and blocking. See, for instance, the casting of Tiresias and the entrances to the stage.

The Thunder River Theater Company presentation of Antigone put the chorus on the 24-hour news channel for Thebes to set them as commentators on the action, as well as eyewitnesses.

The University of Utah's 31st Classical Greek Theater Festival included a production of Antigone, which starred Jennifer Clark in the title role and Lloyd Mulvey as Kreon in 2001.

UNC Charlotte adapted the play to the setting of the American Civil War in a 2001 production, but with modern speech rather than that of the 1800s.

Avery Brooks starred in a production of Oedipus Rex that was part of a performance of the entire trilogy in one night at the Kennedy Center in 2001. This production set the stories in Africa (which isn't too far from the mark, since the Egyptian Thebes is the origin of the story of this family that existed as folk tales in Greece before Sophocles dramatized them). [At the website, scroll down to the photo for the accompanying write-up, mostly praising Brooks' performance.]

Didiskalia 3.1 (Summer 1996) contains a review by Liz Roberts of a production in New South Wales; no photos are included, but commentary focuses on the acting and selected aspects of production with a relatively naturalistic set, reminiscent of modern Sarajevo.

Forbidden Theater in the UK did a production in 1998 based on a new translation by Gwynne Edwards. Tiresias was played by a woman. (Photo detail is from a photo by Camilla Watson of Ulrika Hellstrom as Antigone.)

Crooked House Theater Company did a production "primarily for secondary schools" in Spring, 2000, in County Kildare, Ireland, plus 3 nights of production at the county courthouse. (Photo: Yvonne O'Hara as Antigone)

Western Illinois University's Studio Theater produced Antigone in 1999. This website, maintained at Geocities (two clicks to get rid of sidebar ads that open atop every page), is a six-web-page portfolio of costume and set design.

A 1998 Navajo production with the Doane College Theater Department (in Lincoln, Nebraska) is described at a website that includes some stills that show costume and set design. The top half of the page is production notes.

Read about a 1998 production that depicted a "prehistoric" setting with set, lighting, and costume. Read production notes on costuming with 4 large illustrations.

Furman Theater Company at Furman College used a webcam during production in February, 1999, to capture images of their Antigone production. (Photo: Kevin Treu as Teresias and Sara Justice as the child who guides him)