Antigone

Antigone, daughter of the cursed house of Oedipus, must defy her king to bury her brother, the fallen leader of a failed rebellion. Can one young girl, willing to sacrifice everything, face down the power of a state determined to destroy her if she does not obey? Sophocles’ timeless myth pits the baser instincts of enmity and revenge against the power of love and reconciliation.

SYNOPSIS

After King Oedipus left Thebes, blinded and disgraced, his two sons Eteocles and Polynices were elected co-rulers of the city. They agreed to reign for alternate years, but at the end of his first term, Eteocles refused to relinquish the throne to his brother and banished him from Thebes.

Polynices raised an army in Argos and returned to Thebes, threatening to destroy the city if Eteocles didn’t yield. A terrible civil war ensued, both brothers were killed, and their uncle Creon proclaimed himself King of Thebes.

As his first act of government, Creon declared Polynices a traitor to the city, and forbade anyone to give his corpse a proper burial. The play begins as Antigone, daughter of Oedipus and sister to Eteocles and Polynices, hears of this edict, and resolves to bury her brother in secret.

This production was made possible in part through the generosity of the Carr Foundation.

Antigone is part of Cross Currents, a major multi-year initiative of the A.R.T. and the American Music Theater Festival in Philadelphia sponsored by Philip Morris Companies Inc.

Special thanks to The Costas and Mary Maliotis Charitable Foundation, Alexander S. Onassis Public Benefit Foundation, Euterpe Dukakis, and the Gerondelis Foundation for their support of the presentation of classical Greek drama at the A.R.T.

Additional support for this production was provided by the Kokkalis Program on Southeastern and East-Central Europe, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.